Zoologist turned micro-brewer scoops Rural Entrepreneur award

A 28 year old zoologist has scooped the 2008 Young Rural Entrepreneur of the Year award following the success of his micro-brewery business in Northumberland.

The award - announced by insurance brokers' Lycetts and The Field magazine - was presented to Tom by a panel of judges on Thursday night last week at a ceremony at the Tryon Gallery in central London.

The Winner's story

Tom, 28, was born in Papua New Guinea as the son of VSO parents Jim and Sue whose work included helping to establish sheep farming in the country. The family moved back home to Northumberland in 1986 and after high school, Tom’s love of nature led him to study zoology at Bangor University. Soon enough, however, he began to realise that his career path was likely to send him away from his beloved Northumberland and the thought of a ‘desk job’ did not appeal.

As a consequence Tom decided to study for an MSc from Sunderland University’s Brew-Lab while persuading his father to re-mortgage the family home to finance the conversion of a derelict building on the edge of the town. As a fully equipped micro-brewery, Allendale Brewing Company Ltd brewed its first beer on Valentines Day 2006, and is now struggling to keep up with demand from local pubs and retailers.

On winning the award Tom commented: “I was chuffed to be recognised as one of the five finalists for the award, and to win it is incredible. I love doing what I do, whether that is the brewing itself; experimenting with new recipes; serving at a beer fayre or giving tours of the brewery.

“Despite recently increasing production to over 5,000 pints a week, at the moment we sell as soon as we brew. The prize money from the award will allow us to buy more casks and a new fermenter to increase production, and I also plan to contract-out more of the bottling to a local company and dedicate time to professional branding and label design. I get married next year and our honeymoon will be the first real break away from the business, but we have a good team here to handle everything."

Helping the business to grow further at a time when pubs across the country are struggling, Tom has also been at the heart of the refurbishment of the Crown at Catton, the only pub in the village, which had been closed for nine years before opening again in July 2008. The company has also invented a beer dispensing unit for hire at events to provide another outlet for his traditional brew.