SIBA purchases majority shareholding in Flying Firkin

04-Dec-2017 - Last updated on 04-Dec-2017 at 15:55 GMT

Exciting opportunity: SIBA chief executive Mike Benner

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) has purchased a major stake in beer supplier Flying Firkin as part of its commercial strategy to develop routes to market opportunities for its members.

Flying Firkin, which is based in Colne, Lancashire, has distributed craft cask ale for more than 25 years.

SIBA, which has 850 members, has been looking at opportunities to expand routes to market beyond direct delivery by the brewery scheme element of its Beerflex scheme.

Route to market

Now in its 14th year, Beerflex was set up to get SIBA members’ beers into pub chains and since then, more than 100m pints have been sold.

When the service was launched in 2002, there were only 200 beers available but this has rocketed to 3,500 due to the craft-brewing boom of recent years, and 37 different pub companies have worked with SIBA during the years to sell beer from independent breweries in their pubs.

Exciting opportunity

Of the purchase of the majority shareholding in Flying Firkin, SIBA chief executive Mike Benner said: “This purchase creates an exciting opportunity for SIBA to progress its commercial objectives to fulfil local to national demand for craft beer and firmly establish SIBA as the category leader for professional brewing businesses, and our commercial plans reflect this vision.”

Flying Firkin managing director Nina Bates told The Morning Advertiser she was delighted. She added: “It is exciting for the future.”