Kemi Badenoch and James Cartlidge join us in Long Melford!

No two days at the brewery are ever quite the same...but today was quite out of the ordinary - even by our standards!!

We had the pleasure of welcoming Kemi Badenoch and our local MP James Cartlidge to our home in Long Melford for a look around both our current setup and what we’re building next.

From brewery to distillery, taproom to garden, we gave a full tour of the site—telling our 40 year story along the way. From our humble beginnings back in 1986 to the brewery we are today, it was a chance to show how we brew and distil, what we’re working on, and where we’re heading next.

That, of course, included a look (and a taste!) of some of our latest beers and spirits (plus a few not-quite-released ones), alongside a wander through the plans and progress of the development taking shape around us.

But more importantly, it gave us the chance to talk about the things that really matter to us.

Not in a formal, round-the-table, pushy sort of way—but in the kind of honest, straight conversation that we tend to have around the brewery most days. The opportunities, the challenges, and the future of beer, pubs, and small independent businesses like ours.

Because while a lot has changed since we first started brewing back in 1986 , the heart of it hasn’t. We care deeply about what we do, the industry we’re part of, and the communities that support us.

Irrespective of politics or party, our aim was simple: to make sure the voice of independent breweries (like us), pubs, and hospitality businesses (like so many we work with!) is heard. We know those in Westminster have no shortage of big, complex challenges on their plates-but for us, these are the issues close to home, and we took our chance to share them.

We’re grateful to Kemi for taking the time to visit, to listen, and to see first-hand what goes into a day here. A big thanks also to James Cartlidge, our local MP, for his continued support over the years-including helping us get our beer poured in the Strangers’ Bar in the House of Commons in 2019, which remains a moment we’re rather proud of.