Ale sell your house! Estate agency launches its own brand of IPA
Skelmersdale agent says his cans of beer will be given to home movers but also sold in pubs and retail outlets.
Many entrepreneurial estate agency owners say they have a big project brewing in the background, but that is literally true for Lancashire businessman Neil Robinson.
He has launched a canned pale ale in partnership with the Clay Brow Nano Brewery in Skelmersdale, where Robinson’s eponymous estate agency is also based.
Neil, whose firm was shortlisted for New Estate Agency of the Year at last year’s Neg awards, has worked in the property industry for over 25 years and set up his agency in 2019.
His boozy project came together after he talked to old school friend Neil Parkin, who owns the Clay Brow Nano Brewery.
The beer is called Heima, and the can features his company’s logo and a For Sale sign.
“The name Heima is an Old Norse word for “Home”, which the brewer felt was appropriate given Skelmersdale’s name is derived from the Old Norse “Skjelmar’s Dael”,” says Neil (pictured).
“The beer will most likely be available in the same independent bottle shops that normally carry Clay Brow Nano’s existing range of beers, and a local pub has also agreed to stock it.
“We’ll also be giving them out to our buyers and sellers as part of their moving home gift.”
Estate agency first?
But he is not the first agent to ‘pint’ his business in the right direction – three years ago Coventry agency Loveitts also launched its own IPA, in partnerships with brewer Twisted Barrel Ale Brewery.
And in September 2020 Norwich firm Think Property successfully applied for a licence to sell premium gin via its high street branch.
