Everyone has found the last fifteen months tough and we're all desperate to get life and business back to normal.

To help support the full return of the high street, Nub News has been running a regular UP CLOSE WITH feature where we profile local businesses.

This week we talk to the amazing husband and wife team Josh and Frankie Kearns, who set up The Park Brewery in 2014. During an in-depth Q & A session with Nub News, Josh and Frankie reveal how they chose to set up close to Richmond Park in south-west London, their love for the community and how they used this to help create a strong local personality for the business.

• *********************************

Forgive us for saying this but we haven't really much about The Park Brewery before now, compared to other local breweries such as Twickenham Brewery and the new Jawbone brewery. Why do you think this is? Tell us some more about your background?

Josh and Frankie: "The Park Brewery was formed in our family kitchen in 2013/2014. Josh purchased a home-brew kit from Wilkos one Saturday afternoon, the rest as they say, is history. After a year or so of dabbling, we trialled the beer in a friend's bar – The Jam Tree. The beers proved popular. Shortly afterwards we found an empty unit near our house and close to Richmond Park. The Park Brewery was officially launched.

"We set up with the aim of making tasty beers for our community and beyond. In the beginning, it was just the two of us making very small batches on a tiny kit. We named ourselves after The Park as we feel that in an increasingly fast paced world, time out and nature are really important. We like to think our beer represents this – a moment to reflect – beer to be considered and enjoyed.

"It's most likely you haven't heard of us as until now, we've lacked a proper team to help propel us forward. The two of us have juggled all aspects of the business including – production, deliveries, sales, events, financials, strategy, marketing etc as well as bringing up our 2 children – it's been pretty challenging. After our latest crowd-funding round at the end of 2020, we've been able to build a brilliant team. So, hopefully, you'll be seeing us around a lot more!"

Josh, you launched from fairly humble beginnings with just a home brew kit. What gave you the idea to try your hand at brewing in the first place? What did you do before?

Josh: "I've always been an ale drinker and when the new wave of beers starting to come through from the US and then the Bermondsey Mile, I was completely blown away. I wanted to learn more about the process and experiment with the wonderful world of hops myself. Previously I've worked in kitchens and love cooking so home-brewing was a natural progression (and to be honest, was always on the cards).

"But immediately prior to setting up the brewery I was a freelance photographer for about 15 years. I was lucky, as being a freelancer, I was able to carry on with the photography, while we were in the early stages of setting up the brewery."

Often partners try to avoid working together but for you two it obviously works well. What's the secret of a working relationship like this – do you agree on everything? Is there a clear division of roles?

Frankie: "We'd always wanted to work together as we do have very different skill-sets. Not sure what the secret is, but maybe it's easier in some ways? Complete honesty and making decisions relatively quickly, rather than over-worrying about stuff. We don't agree on everything!!!! Far from it, but if one of us feels particularly strongly about a possible route/decision, the other will back down – with no 'I told you so!' ;) at all!! Sense of humour and giving each other space is critical.

The last year or so has been very difficult for every business, big and small. How have you coped? Did you have to furlough people or stop production? There've been lots of stories about pubs having to pour beer down the drain, which seems very sad.

Frankie: "The last year has been difficult – but businesses that have been able to adapt, pause and pivot at a moment's notice, are the ones that have made it through the turbulent times. We've certainly made the most of the 'support local' feeling among the community and we're incredibly grateful to our customers who have kept us going.

"We didn't have to furlough or stop production. We just scaled right back, focused on home-deliveries, built an ecommerce site, purchased a second-hand canning line and worked 6 days a week to get beer out. It's been full-on.

"We managed to avoid throwing beer away the first lockdown, unfortunately we did lose some in the near year. But in the big scheme of things, we've been very lucky on that score. Sometimes being small is no bad thing."

It also appears that in the short time you've been operating you have grown very quickly, having to move to larger premises to brew more beer. Give us some idea of how much beer you are making in a year now and the process involved?

Josh: "Obviously last year wasn't 'normal' but in 2019 we produced approximately 1250 casks/kegs and around 37,000 cans/bottles. On average we produce 2,500 litres per brew and we aim to brew twice a week. We have 4 fermentors and 2 more on order – which means we can increase production again.

Tell us about your suppliers – are you able to support other local business too?

Josh: "We use a variety of suppliers. Our cans come from Yorkshire. Malt, hops and yeast are purchased from various different suppliers around the country.

"One of our annual special beers – Tread Lightly – celebrates local produce - including hops from a friend's garden in Epsom.

"We also have an English Lager at the moment – Kingston Gate - which contains UK ingredients only and we've worked with Beanberry café/roasters and used their coffee in our Espresso Porter – Rituals at Dawn.

Every brewer will say there is something special about the flavour or taste of their particular beer, what would you say sets Park Brewery's range of beers apart? Is there a secret ingredient?

Frankie: "We focus on different hop combinations to try and max out those flavours as much as is humanly possible. We aim for fruity or tropical, hop forward beers. Not just 'knock it back' beer – but beer to be savoured and reflected upon."

It appears that all your beers come in cans. Why is that and not bottles, which seems to be more common nowadays?

Frankie: "We originally used bottles but are very happy to have moved into cans for a multitude of reasons. One, they're better for the environment. Two, they're safer to use (glass breakages are a nightmare). Three, they're easier to transport – cans are lighter than bottles. Four, they take up less space. And last but not least, they look great."

You have really linked the names of your beers to the local community, in particular Richmond Park and its various landmarks. Tell us how that came about and what they are?

Frankie: "When we first set up, we discussed the naming of our beers at length. It would be so much easier to call a beer – Park Brewery Pale Ale – rather than think of names for each beer - particularly as we produce around 20 specials a year!

"But we're really happy to celebrate such an array of great stories, places and people from our local park and we think it brings extra personality to our brand.

"In our core range we have Killcat Pale (Killcat Corner), Gallows (Gallows Pond), Spankers Hill IPA (Spankers Hill Wood), Amelia (Princess Amelia), Phantom (code name during WW2 to a unit stationed in the park).

"Specials include – Ballet Loop (a cycling route past the White Lodge), Two Storm (Two Storm Wood), Sylva (Sylva Boyden – 1st woman to leap out of a parachute Richmond Park), Kingston Gate (as is) and lots, lots more!!!"

I see that you have also branched out to making pies. The combination of a pint and a pie has always been a big favourite. What's in the pie and what made you offer pies as well as beer?

Frankie: "Ha ha – we can't claim to make the pies ourselves. These are courtesy of @MyPieLondon (https://www.mypie.london/) We've worked with from the very beginning after meeting him at an event in the Old Market Place, Kingston in 2015. We've always been big fans of his pies and as you say, it's the perfect partnership."

You've got a really wide range of beers available but I've not seen any of them in local supermarkets or shops. Will that be happening in the future, or will the business continue to grow online?

Frankie: "We do sell to a number of indie bottle shops in the area. Around 50 shops in total. Supermarkets would be great. We're working on that!"

What are your plans for the future? Do you think there is a growing market for beer given that English vineyards are also now producing award-winning sparkling wines as well?

Josh: "I think the nation will always have a thirst for beer! It's still the number one drink of choice in pubs and bars up and down the country. It's fantastic that the vineyards are starting to produce great wines too. Definitely room for all of us.

"Plans are to continue to grow the brand, sell a lot more beer. Hit some nationwide stores, grow our customer base and become a recognised beer brand across the UK."

Will you be looking to employ more local people too?

Josh: "Absolutely. So far this year we've employed 2 more full-time staff and 2 part-time staff with a view to 2 more in the next couple of months."

For more about the Park Brewery including how to enjoy their locally-made, community-celebrating brews, visit their website here.