Little Valley Brewery

When Dutch-born Wim van der Spek met Sue Cooper on a long-distance cycling trip from Holland to Tibet it was not only the beginning of a beautiful friendship but a beautiful brew.

Today as joint owner of Little Valley Brewery in Hebden Bridge, van der Speck, a master brewer trained in Bavaria produces organic beers using quality – and where possible locally sourced –ingredients, including water from the nearby Withens reservoir.

Something of a beer connoisseur, van der Speck had already produced award-winning beers in his native Holland, Germany, England and the Scottish Highlands, when together with Sue in 2005 he set up the brewery at Turkey Lodge Farm in Hebden Bridge.

Now the couple are working with the support of UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to capture overseas markets with their original range of beers such as Cragg Vale Bitter and Hebden’s Wheat. The company also signed up to be part of the British beer stand at the National Beer Wholesalers Trade Show in Las Vegas this year.

Sue Cooper explained: “A lot has happened in just the space of the last nine months as one thing seemed to lead on to another. We had no idea there were so many different kinds of support available to help us explore overseas markets. It started last year when we joined UKTI’s Passport to Export programme which gave us a good grounding in the practicalities of exporting. This led to an invitation to attend another UKTI sponsored event ‘How to Export Beer’. We got to meet the deputy director of the British Beer and Pub Association, who revealed lots of useful information such as top overseas markets and the importance of the right branding and labelling.

“It was at this event that we first heard about the Las Vegas trade show and with the help of Elsa Fairbanks, UKTI’s food and drink specialist, we have identified some funding under Yorkshire Forward’s Targeted Export Support Scheme (TESS) to attend the event in Las Vegas.”

Little Valley Brewery was also part of a Taste of Britain event held at the British Embassy in Oslo earlier this year. In this two-day event Yorkshire food and drink firms were introduced to the Norwegian market. The UKTI team based in Oslo were on hand to offer advice and support.

Sue added: “It was a very well-organised event and I particularly valued our contacts with Sue Wilthil, based at the Embassy in Oslo. She was extremely well informed about the Norwegian food and drink sector and was instrumental in lubricating the wheels with some of the companies we met. We are now in talks with one of these companies and expect this to result in some future collaboration. I believe the Norwegian companies were particularly attracted to our beers because we have organic, vegan and fair trade represented among them.

“The Oslo event also proved fertile ground for networking with other food and drink companies from the region and sharing our experiences. All these things help you grow in confidence, although we are mindful of not letting our ambition outstrip our production capabilities.               

Elsa Fairbanks, UK Trade & Investment’s sector specialist for food and drink said:

“Oslo was a great example of how our UKTI overseas network really works well for businesses who want to export. In collaboration with our team in Norway we were able to bring prospective business partners from across Norway to the Yorkshire firms all under one roof at the Embassy. Our local companies also have access to the local business knowledge that UKTI colleagues based in Oslo can provide.”

For further information on this company please visit www.littlevalleybrewery.co.uk.