“I’d do it all again if I had the chance, it’s the beauty of it. Every year is like that, every week is like that. When that dies, it is time to move on.” We’re discussing the palpable excitement that is emanating from the team at Bristol’s Lost and Grounded Brewers ahead of their imminent opening. Alex Troncoso, co-founder of the Bristol brewery, is among the brewing alumni to have passed through Camden’s halls and Jasper Cuppaidge, founder of Camden Town Brewery, knows full well the excitement and anxiety that goes with starting your own brewery. Cuppaidge has been there and he’s going through it all again, as the team makes sterling progress with the development of its new brewery in Enfield. Expansion that will create 70 new jobs over the next two years.

“Everything is done and every supplier is committed, which is awesome. It’s a great feeling as it’s exactly what the route we were on before we joined ABI and they were fully committed to what we were doing and where we wanted to go,” he says. There was always that element of nervousness about how things would turn out but fair play to them, they have delivered on everything that they promised.”

It took approximately 10 minutes for the subject of Camden’s acquisition to be raised but to Cuppaidge, it’s not an elephant in the room, far from it. He acknowledges that the move was always likely to divide opinion but he’s looking forward, not back.

“Everyone knows I’m super proud and even more proud that we are with a company like ABI. I understand a lot of people love us and continue to love us. They were worried about what it would do to us,” he muses. “It’s like when a band gets invested in, do they become rock stars and let it go to their heads and become shit? So it’s another element of keeping us on our toes, which I think we are very good at. We have taken ourselves, and this business, very seriously.

“This is a very capital intensive industry and the money to grow to where we wanted to be, to do what we were going to do, had to come from somewhere at some point. Do you get involved with the banks, the venture capitalists, or with a brewing company? Everyone has to choose their road. And we did.”

Cuppaidge explains however that acquisition was never on the company’s radar.

“We did a lot of work on this brewery last year. But around September, ABI approached us with the intention to talk. We thought, ‘great maybe they want to help on distribution in the US’. They made it clear they wanted more so I figured it was distribution in Europe. However they were more direct in their desire to partner with us and invest in us. I was like, ‘really?’. It’s like being a kid footballer in the park and having a top scout from someone like Arsenal approaching you with a contract telling you that you’ll become incredible one day. We were so naive, so we went at it in the only way we know,” he says. “We outlined the beliefs of Camden, what our plans are, and where we wanted to be. They were sensitive to all of that. We have had some incredible custodians that have walked us through the whole process, which I appreciate.”

Camden Town Brewery, founded by Cuppaidge, started full production in 2010. At the time of the brewery’s acquisition announcement, it employed a team of 95 and had sold 12 million pints that year (2015). Headcount has already gone up by upwards of 40 in the eight months that have passed since then.

Cuppaidge is continually aware of the fear that some drinkers have when a brand they enjoy, and appreciate, is swallowed up by a drinks giant.

“I don’t think brands that have gone to bigger companies, and then dissolved, have done so through being treated the wrong way. I think they have reached the end of their natural lifetime while under that tenure. That happens and it happens in lots of industries,” he states. “But it won’t happen to us”.

Cuppaidge adds: “When it comes to this acquisition, we haven’t done anything outside of the company. This business is made up of the people sitting around us here today. What matters to me is what these 120 people (at time of visit) think. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I wanted to make sure that each and every one of these people knew that they counted and that we went through this deal to secure the future of us all. And now we are secure.

“We are secure and we have investment to grow, we have everything. We are incubated. ABI leave us to get on with things, and allow those guys around us here today to get on with doing what they’ve been doing so well for so long. I’ve made a lot of decisions with Camden and I believe a lot of those have been spot on. Yes we have lost a few people, which is unfortunate but we are gaining people too. There are 20 new people this year and 20 more next year, and rightly so.”

And for Cuppaidge, he says that when it comes to Camden, he has never been happier.

“We were first to a lot of things and we are in a position where we will continue to strive to be the first to many more. It can be a lonely old world out there as an entrepreneur, so it’s incredibly rewarding and validating to be part of ABI and now connected to many others like me, where you can pick up the phone and speak about your experiences. The same applies to many other parts of the team, too. Things are simply better. People are benefitting from the experience,” he enthuses. “For everyone around us, for breweries around us in London and the UK, come and ask us for advice.  We will be able to do more for people, and I look forward to that. It is positive.”

Like many breweries that have continued to grow, the emphasis on the team and the role each and every one in that team plays, is all important. And that’s not something Cuppaidge will be changing in the brewery’s next stage of development.

“Beer is about fun. It’s not about bloody war. If that’s not what you’re doing, then something is very, very wrong. We have 32 nationalities working for us, massive amounts of diversity, but massive amounts of inclusion, too. Whether you’re 18 or 80, you’re welcome at Camden,” he says. “That’s what we like to think we have brought to the industry. And when I think about the people that have left us, it makes me sad as I miss each and every one of them. I know, and knew, each member of this team by name but at the same time, we’ve probably helped populate a fair amount of the London and wider beer scene with people that have passed through these doors. So that’s a good thing!”

He adds: “We get upset when people write negative things that are personal, of course we do. A lot of what is written is unfounded but thankfully that’s in the past. And we are now building great confidence in the market and the beer is tasting even better than ever.”

Cuppaidge has lofty goals for Camden’s new brewery, but he is equally excited by the role its existing site will have in the Camden proposition, too. It will be a collaborative space, focused on R&D and innovation, with smaller tanks to enable the development of new beers.

“We’ve brewed over 100 different beers. Many wouldn’t think that so this site will only go to help us continue to develop new recipes and get them out. We need the core, the fish and chips such as Hells, which I would murder all day long when served in the right glass, served clean and at the right temperature,” he says. “We will continue to innovate, that goes without saying. But I am just as proud to try someone else’s beer and go ‘Wow’ this is a great beer. Be it Sourdough from Wild Beer Co, or Jaipur from Thornbridge, when you have a beer that is simply fantastic, then there is no better feeling.”

You’d argue that such a feeling for Cuppaidge could be rivalled when he steps foot in the company’s new 57,420 sqft brewery nine miles up the road in Enfield.

“The new brewery is a peach. It’s incredible. It’s just 25 mins up the road with a five vessel, state of the art Krones brewhouse. Everything is new. Down here, we will move the brewhouse further into the brewery, remove some of the bigger vessels and put in lots of smaller ones so instead of 120hl tanks we’ll have more 20hl ones,” says Cuppaidge.

“It’ll mean we can do more one-off beers, with the team and with friends outside of this brewery. The Krones 100hl brewhouse will mean we can brew 12 times a day. We have KHS equipment, and CFT for bottling and cans. When ABI came on board, they suggested what we can add around our specifications. People say they are all about cutting costs. But they are fundamentally about making beer brilliant. The budget has gone up by about 20% due to their involvement. It’s the complete opposite of what people believe.”

And that’s the impression you get from Cuppaidge and the Camden team. Proving people wrong while making good beer to boot.

“I feel that our company is at home now. It feels right.”