Award-winning East Yorkshire brewery diversifies business with local support

An award-winning micro-brewery has diversified and gone from strength to strength thanks to fast and reliable broadband provided by Quickline Communications.

Great Newsome Brewery, based in Winestead, Holderness, East Yorkshire, had invested in a new brewery but was only doing minimal online trading before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

The family-run business previously suffered from a poor internet connection but, having signed up with Quickline shortly before Covid, it was able to be flexible and adapt to the changing marketplace.

It moved to focus on online trading to survive when the country was forced into lockdown, with online orders rocketing from being just 2 per cent of the business to 90 per cent. Having come through the pandemic stronger, it has now taken advantage of Quickline’s “game-changing” broadband to diversify and grow the business.

Great Newsome, which uses barley from its own fields to produce its beer, now also operates a firewood sales business and offers glamping and holiday home retreats on its farm, all of which have been made possible by its improved internet service.

Matthew Hodgson, director of Great Newsome Brewery, commented: “When Covid hit and we went into lockdown, everything changed and the only way we could survive during that period was to deliver straight to our customers.

“Thankfully, we’d switched to Quickline to give us fast, reliable internet. Previously, it had been very patchy at best, and we wouldn’t have survived without the improved service.

“Now, it’s essential to our business. Our software is all Cloud-based and we need broadband for everything from taking orders online, telephone sales and taking payments, to things like social media to promote our businesses. It’s also meant we’ve been able to expand to launch our firewood business and glamping and holiday home breaks.”

Quickline, which has already passed more than 300,000 premises with its existing next-generation fixed wireless broadband network in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, is blending that with full fibre to create the UK’s only gigabit hybrid network.

Quickline CEO Sean Royce added: “I’ve known about Great Newsome Brewery for some time and am a fan of their beer, so I’m delighted we’ve been able to support their business. Covid changed everything and showed how important fast and reliable broadband is for everyone, in all communities, and for businesses to survive and thrive.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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