A Buckinghamshire brewery has announced it will be closing its doors for good after being "pushed over the edge" as a business.
Malt The Brewery in Wycombe Road, Prestwood, Great Missenden, shared the news on social media on Thursday night (October 19) that it will close permanently on Saturday, November 4.
Co-owner Nick Watson and his wife Jenny run the taproom and brewery and have been inundated with online orders since making the announcement. They have had 65 orders since dropping prices on their beer overnight.
Despite the heartbreaking news, the brewery has had some "banging" memories over the years, having served as a real hub for the community.
Mr Watson said: "Last year we did a 10-year party in the midsummer and got a marquee and had food it was the most banging event.
"It was nice to see people who we hadn't seen over Covid we were so lucky that we had the crowdfunding behind us and spent time and money on the website. The word everyone used was pivot as we pivoted the taproom and brewery to a delivery service and at the height of the first lockdown, we had 70 deliveries.
"Fun fact, tomorrow (Saturday, October 21) would have been 11 years of being open."
Nick explained the reasons behind the brewery closing.
"Like any small business in the area we battled ripples through Brexit and business rates were reassessed in 2019 and we were given 7 days to pay a £32,000 bill. We did a crowdfunding project which picked up 54 investors and in 2019 we went into lockdown but we had some cash and came out on the other side.
"Obviously with any other small business, the cost is going up, fuel is going up and staff costs.
"It is hard to find people who want this kind of work and when you do find some it's hard to motivate them and retain them and we've struggled with that.
"Despite all of that we've remarkably remained debt-free as a viable business and we were sitting tight waiting for energy costs to go down, we were in a state of survival mode, but there have been changes in the premises recently and the repercussions of that have pushed over the edge.
"Life of a brewer is pretty hard work and you know the longer I've done this the more I've respected Rebellion and I take my hat off to them now and how hard it has been for them.
"What I've really liked seeing is the comments on Instagram and Facebook as we set out to do something community-focused and be a good place for sociable drinking and for people to get together and based on those comments that's so good."
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