Staffordshire brewery to open 20 more community pubs

Titanic Brewery is owned by Keith and David Bott, who will also spend the cash on developing new types of beer.

The injection of capital comes under the government-backed Funding for Lending Scheme.

Titanic, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, currently has nine pubs across the West Midlands and North West, including The Sun in Stafford, The Royal Exchange in Stone and The Hollybush at Seighford, near Stafford. The Bull's Head in Burslem is the brewery tap.

"We are committed to opening community pubs which appeal to a wide age range and are part of the fabric of their local area," said Keith.

"A good pub is at the heart of the community and we are extremely proud to say that every pub we have opened so far has formerly been closed down. A good pub is an integral part of our culture and it is very satisfying to play a part in the revival of the great British pub."

The brewery was named after the ill-fated ocean liner, which sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, in honour of its captain Edward Smith, who was born in nearby Etruria.

It has grown steadily and now produces more than 2.5 million pints of its ales each year with many of the beers named after the ship and incidents involving it. They include Steerage, Iceberg, Wreckage, Lifeboat and White Star.

Managing directors Keith and Dave bought the brewery, which now employs about 20 staff, in 1988.

The plan now is to expand Titanic's estate to 30 concentrating on Staffordshire, south Cheshire and Derbyshire.

The brewery in Callender Place, Lingard Street, also employs more than 100 across its pubs.

Last year, it invested £300,000 in the re-modelling of the brewery, which involved creating the Titanic Sample Room for visitors and for hire for conferences, workshops and seminars along with new offices and a shop selling the range of Titanic's bottled ales and merchandise.

The brothers are committed to opening community pubs which will appeal to a wide age range and are looking for suitable premises to buy.

Every pub Titanic has opened had previously been closed down before being bought by the brewery and then carefully restored.

Its beers have won a number of awards over the years and are supplied to real ale pubs across the West Midlands.

The brewery also produces a number of special brews at the Victorian micro-brewery in the grounds of the Shugborough Estate, near Stafford.

Brewery tours are now run on the second Saturday of every month at 1pm and 3pm. Exclusive tours for groups of at least a dozen can also be booked.