Gravity Well Brewing
About Gravity Well Brewing
Gravity Well Brewing is a small batch microbrewery in Tottenham. We caught up with Ben Duck, Director of Gravity Well Brewing, to share their story about using the Productive Valley Fund.
With the support from the Productive Valley Fund (PVF), they are continuing to build upon their success by purchasing new machinery and being able to produce more batches.
Tell us about yourself and your business
“I didn’t start in the brewing industry; I practiced as a solicitor for 8 years before deciding to leave my role and come up with an alternative idea for a future career. The inspiration came whilst I was travelling and met up with one of my friends that was an avid home brewer in New Zealand. I thought, well, I can make beer and microbreweries are popping up everywhere so why don’t I give it a go when I get back.
“When I got back home, I decided to become a full-time home brewer which involved making tiny batches for a period of about 6 months intensively to try and hone my trade and skills. I then found a business premise in Leyton, which was a small railway arch that is well known for microbreweries starting in the capital.
“I essentially started with a glorified home brewing kit, in a very large empty room. I then decided to open an onsite tap room on Saturdays and started selling the beer direct to the public. Slowly but steadily, I gained a strong following of local support which helped build the brand quickly, I then invested the rest of my savings into a 6-hectolitre sized kit, so I could make 600 litres of beer at a time, which was a lot more than what I was making. I then quickly realised that the space was too small to run a viable business in at that point I moved to another railway arch that we opened 5 days a week. Then we embarked on a bigger site as quickly the space became too small and demand for our beer increased.
“The name Gravity Well Brewing actually comes from my interest in sci-fi. I’ve always been a bit of a science nerd, I loved reading sci-fi books and watching space documentaries and the Gravity Well is a term that comes up a lot. The Gravity Well is a representation of how space-time is bent around large objects like planets and stars. I thought the way it looked would make really nice graphics for the brand and the name is easy to say and remember.”
Why did you choose Tottenham?
“We chose to move to Tottenham not just because Andy (a Partner in Gravity Well Brewing) is a massive Spurs fan, but because we knew the area and other local businesses. The area was also good value for money and had good transport links from our taproom in Leyton. There is also scope for another taproom here in Tottenham.”
How did you find out about the Productive Valley Fund? And what was the process like?
“I was first made aware of the Productive Valley Fund by one of the other business owners in the area as they were also considering it, I told them I was looking for some funding and they sent me a PDF about it. The rate that was being offered seemed really attractive and it was in an area that we were looking in. It was actually really good to be able to deal directly with the council that we were going to be involved with in the future, and have them understand our business, which is something we felt would develop a good relationship. It seemed like a much better service than going to a bank that doesn’t know anything about your business and doesn’t want to talk it through and just looks at numbers.
“The communication and process were really good. Even before the loan was agreed, the meetings were productive, and we gained so much knowledge. We had so much support even during the application process.”
Would you recommend the Productive Valley Fund to other business owners?
“I would highly recommend it; it is always worth making sure you have a really robust set of financials, so your financial and sales forecast, your profit and loss, cash flow and. Keep this in mind for the application as you will be asked about it. The process has been really smooth.”
What is next for Gravity Well Brewing?
“We are planning to stay in this unit, however as we are already approaching capacity here, we are thinking about taking on another space in the area ideally in the same estate. There is also scope for us to develop another taproom here. We will continue to grow organically and steadily.”
Watch the video
Watch the Gravity Well Brewing case study video below: