Great British Drinks Company buys up Keystone’s breweries
Keystone-owned breweries including Black Sheep Brewery, Purity, Brew By Numbers, Brick, North, Magic Rock and Fourpure, have all been acquired from Keystone by the newly-formed Great British Drinks Company for £6.5 million.
‘A restoration deal’
The acquisition, which is being described as a “restoration deal” and is set to save 145 jobs, follows Keystone’s repeated pleas to avoid administration as it looked for a solution to its financial woes.
At the end of last year, Keystone, formerly known as Breal, had admitted that a lot of the pressure had come from trade creditors with the challenges then leading it to bring in FRP Advisory to steer the business back on course, but the situation soon developed to become more critical with the second filing signalling a crisis point.
Keystone’s reputation within the beer sector has suffered lately. Amid lay offs and adaptations to brewing locations following many of the breweries that the group had picked up seeing key figures leaving following the re-ownership. However, the news of its swathe of independent brewery takeovers were still often billed as a lifeline and yet were ritualistically criticised by insiders who called its pre-pack administration deals “nothing but glorified daylight robbery”.
Keystone Brewing Group’s board, CEO Steve Cox has said that the group’s next move “was not taken lightly”.
Indeed, The Great British Drinks Company, backed by the entrepreneurs behind Paramount Retail Group, will place the breweries alongside Saltaire Brewery’s brands and has said it is investing in a long-term mission to “back regional craft beer” and, unlike Keystone, the new owners have stated that they plan to do this “not through consolidation”.
Describing more about the deal, Great British Drinks Company co-founder Sunny Sharma said: “Our approach is to ensure each brewery and its brands maintain their distinctiveness and independence, that only comes from the people and places involved, not through consolidation. Our ethos is one of stewardship.”
Speaking to the drinks business, Sharma explained that “The Great British Drinks Company was founded in January 2026 with a mission to back regional craft beer” and is “based in Yorkshire”.
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Divulging a bit of background, Sharma revealed that it “has been operating Saltaire Brewery and its brands since 2024, which under its stewardship, is now a sustainable business” and assured that “the founders are also passionate local beer lovers”.
Sharma told db: “All three existing brewery sites will be revitalised and maintained” and yet admitted that the former London brands such as Brew By Numbers, Brick and Fourpure would not be brewed in the capital but “London brands will be brewed in Masham”.
Sharma added that “The Great British Drinks Company’s mission is clear – to restore and revitalise regional craft brewing across the UK” and reiterated that “an investment plan of £2 million will be put in place to deliver this”.
Investment
Sharma highlighted further details about the acquisition and said that Black Sheep’s business is “being acquired for a sum in the region of £4.5 million and a future investment plan of over £2m will be put in place to restore the business back to growth”.
He admitted: “With combined sales of £28 million the Great British Drinks Company is in a strong financial position, and will save three important heritage brewery sites” which Sharma has identified “aren’t just businesses they are community and local tourism assets”.
The Keystone business also holds licences for brands such as Hofmeister and Sassy Cider, but any changes to how these might be affected the group remained silent on.
Focussed on rebuilding
Great British Drinks Company co-founder Ravi Sharma added: “This isn’t just a restoration deal it’s about restoring pride to Yorkshire. The region has a proud brewing heritage, and we could not stand by and let that be lost. The next few months will be exciting, the business has some fantastic people, brilliant customers and a group of suppliers that we will be very focussed on rebuilding relationships with. The Great British Drinks Company is open for business and here for the long term.”
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