CUMBERWELL PARK & GOLF CLUB
Cumberwell Park is a venue that hosts, business breakfasts, special events, meetings, conferences and weddings.
CELEBRATING BUSINESS IN BRADFORD ON AVON
It’ s also home to Wiltshire’ s only 45 hole golf course, with 1,500 members. It took home two awards on the night, best venue hire and best health & well-being. We interviewed Lucy James to find out more about their offering.
How long has Cumberwell Park been open and how many events do you hold each year?
We’ ve been open as a venue since 1995. We hold numerous events, over 1,000 per year – comprising golf days / coaching / societies, conferences, Christmas parties and proms.
How did it feel to win twice on the night? Fantastic that so many people voted for us in two categories to enable us to win the two awards.
What’ s been the most exciting event held at Cumberwell in 2017? We held a Europro Golf event with a Par 3 shoot out – there was a £ 100,000 prize for a hole in one which wasn’ t achieved, but the TV presenter John Morgan then managed a hole in one!
What’ s the strangest request you’ ve had from an event organiser?
A customer told their guests an event was a fancy dress engagement party, but it was, in fact, a wedding ceremony where the best dressed in fancy dress were the witnesses!
Cumberwell Park is a family run business. What’ s the best thing and worst thing about working with family?
The best thing is we are able to pull together using a variety of skills to grow and develop the business. The worst thing is sometimes you have to have frank discussions as colleagues!
What’ s new for Cumberwell in 2018? The construction of the next Par 3 course is underway, to complement our existing Par 3 course which opened in August 2016.
For more info: www. cumberwellpark. com
@ CumberwellPark
KETTLESMITH BREWING
Kettlesmith Brewing Company is a small, independent craft micro-brewery.
They won in the best food and drink producer category. Owner Antony Field tells us about his business.
What got you into brewing? Originally, it was to have cheap beer as a student. I did my time making beer from kits bought from Boots in the early 90s. After that I moved onto‘ all grain’ brewing which follows the same process as a commercial brewery, but on a small scale. In 2002 I moved to California and brewed a lot on a‘ pilot brewery’ which larger breweries use to test out new recipes. It was during this time that I started developing recipes, some of which have evolved into our current beers. I was working towards opening my brewery in San Francisco, but ended up moving back to the UK and setting up here in Bradford on Avon. I brought my pilot brewery back with me and now we use it to trial some of our new recipes.
How many stockists do you currently have?
For cask and keg we have to play the‘ guest ale’ game at pubs, so the places we have our beer for sale can change week to week. Bottle sales are more stable and we are seeing a lot of growth there. We’ ve sold to approximately 200 different customers so far.
Do you just sell locally? Our main markets are between Bradford on Avon, Bath and Bristol but we are constantly looking for new areas to move into, we hope to begin selling into London over the next month. We sometimes team up with other breweries to do‘ beer swaps’ which gets our beer into other areas of the country. We also sell direct to customers at our open days which we currently run once a month at the brewery. These are great as it allows us to connect directly with our local supporters and let them learn more about us and the beers.
What do you think makes Kettlesmith unique?
I think it’ s a combination of our history and our approach to brewing. Each one of us brings different experiences of beer and brewing from where we’ ve worked and lived before. We all have a great interest in beer styles and history which influences our brewing and how we see beer in a wider culinary context. We try to bring some of this knowledge and interest to our customers both in our packaging( our labels have detailed flavour profiles and food pairing suggestions), as well as in person when we meet people at events and brewery open days.
How many different varieties are there?
Too many! I should have been stricter with myself when we started up and kept to a smaller core range but there are so many beer styles I love, and over the previous decade I’ d developed a range of recipes I wanted to brew. It’ s not set in stone, but I’ d say we have four or five beers that are year round and another four or so that are repeating seasonal brands. On top of that, we’ ve just started a‘ white label’ series that will be smaller batches, more experimental beers to allow us to keep offering new styles.
What’ s the trickiest thing to get right in the brewing process?
Consistency and yeast management, which are tightly connected. Yeast is often overlooked in favour of malt or hops, but it
plays a critical role in the flavour of the beer. Keeping our yeast healthy and happy is a primary goal and can be a real challenge at a brewery of our scale. Consistency is important to build up a following of our brands, any changes in our recipes are small tweaks to fine tune qualities in the beer.
How did it feel to win the award?
Really great! It’ s our second year winning the Food and Drink Producer category so we were thrilled to retain the title. I’ m really grateful to everyone who has supported us over our first 18 months and who voted for us this year.
For more info: www. kettlesmithbrewing. com
@ kettlesmithbeer
Who makes your events memorable?
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