A WEST CUMBRIAN business has received the green light for expansion – two years on from their launch at the popular Taste Cumbria festival in Cockermouth.

Crooked River Brewing Co, a craft beer company, is expanding its business by opening a new venue in Keswick.

The Lake District National Park Authority last week approved a planning application lodged by the company to transform the former gift shop in Packhorse Court, Keswick into its flagship taproom.

Co-founders Phil Scholey and Alan Fitton-Crellin launched a crowdfunding campaign in 2022, which helped kickstart their business.

Speaking about the development of the business, Phil Scholey said: “The past two years have been very unpredictable. Many of our initial growth plans have either evolved into something completely different or are unfolding much sooner than we anticipated.

“Neither Alan (my business partner) or myself had any prior experience running a business, and it often felt like we were constantly having to learn new skills and faced with impossible challenges.

"But when you believe strongly in a vision, you somehow find the determination to push yourself beyond your comfort zone to make it a reality.”

Over the last two years Phil said the pair have ‘had to pivot their business as they learn more about planning and licensing restrictions and their complexities’, but they are glad to finally have a space to open in the popular Lakes town of Keswick.

Phil said: “I didn't expect so much to happen in two years. We're grateful to have had so many amazing opportunities and in most cases presented to us by our community, other local businesses and our supporters who simply want to see a small local business succeed.”

The tap room will be a friendly space with families and dogs welcome. The team will be selling a range of drinks beyond beer ‘to make the menu as inclusive as possible and we hope to release a food menu in the near future’.

Phil said: “We're trying to keep everything local, and we've met with other neighbouring businesses to working with us as suppliers.

“We wanted the taproom to have a connection to the brewing side of the business, so the layout has a very industrial look with raw materials mixed in with modern furnishings.

"We've taken inspiration from some of our favourite tap rooms across the world and pulled in the bits we think will resonate with our customers.

“We have a lot of ideas to make this a unique venue for Keswick, we hope to host brewing experiences and homebrew classes plus an offer for people to use the space for events, classes and more.

“We're also working on a fun rubber duck themed games for both adults and kids after the success of our rubber duck race at our beer festival earlier in the year so watch this space.”