UK's Community-Funded Drone Valley Brewery Keeps Ale Flowing

On an industrial estate on the edge of Dronfield in Derbyshire, the smell of hops and hot malt mixes happily in the air.

Photo Insert: Drone Valley Brewery was established in 2016 during a boom in British beer-making, as brewery numbers soared from hundreds to more than 2,000.

Drone Valley Brewery has been based on the outskirts of Unstone for seven years, and has ridden out floods, COVID and rising costs to become part of the local beer scene, Liam Barnes reported for BBC News.

What began as a community group has continued to grow and, despite the pressures facing breweries across the country, its hundreds of members hope to keep the ale flowing.

Drone Valley was established in 2016 during a boom in British beer-making, as brewery numbers soared from hundreds to more than 2,000. It is one of a small handful of breweries that are community-owned, with any profits redirected into local groups and events.

Initially, 300 people backed the venture, with the brewery now attracting the direct support of about 720 members. Bernard Caddy, chairman of the brewery's management committee since 2019, said it fulfills a different role from other beer-makers.

"Because we're a community benefit society, we legally have to put the profits back into the community - it makes us different," he said.

"The profits don't go back to the owners, so as a member you don't get anything back as a dividend or things like that, however well you do. We don't get a big payout, but I think that's a good thing because we're attracted to it for very different reasons."

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