Yorkshire brewery hails ‘landmark year’ as it opens four venues and brings in 60 staff

Yorkshire-based brewery Northern Monk has hailed a “landmark year” as the company brought on 60 staff and added four new venues to its bar portfolio.

Sharing its Annual Impact Report for FY25, the company said it had also produced more beer in the period than any previous year.

During the year, the brand opened Northern Monk Refectory York, The Hanging Bat in Edinburgh, Northern Monk at Darley Street Market in Bradford, and Trinity Tap, situated in the Trinity Leeds shopping centre.

Russell Bisset, founder of Northern Monk, said: “2025 was a landmark year for Northern Monk. I'm incredibly proud of what the team has achieved, and of the results documented in the impact report.

“We’ve celebrated opening four new venues across the north of the UK over the last 18 months and produced more beer than ever before, whilst continuing to reduce our direct emissions year-on-year and make real progress on water efficiency as a craft brewery.”

In May, Northern Monk welcomed new CEO, Damian Guha. The company said the move would allow Mr Bisset to focus on the creative and conceptual areas of the business.

The 2025 financial year also saw Northern Monk become a certified B Corp company.

It comes after the brewery launched its new Climate Action Plan last year, aiming for a 90 per cent reduction of the baseline in its direct emissions by 2030.

The firm said that the introduction of low-emission technologies such as new heat pumps installed across multiple locations, emissions-focused process changes and the switch to renewable energy tariffs would help it reach the goal.

The 2025 Impact Report shows that Northern Monk has reduced its year-on-year direct emissions by 12 per cent and reduced the pints of water used to pints of beer packed ratio for the second year running since the initial 2023 water audit.

Northern Monk said that 97.6 per cent of its waste was repurposed or recycled during the period, adding that plans are also in place to reduce the brewery’s use of plastic key kegs by 30 per cent for 2027.

As well as employing 60 new staff members in the period, the company also undertook 31 internal moves or promotions.

Mr Bisset added: “Beer is as much about people as it is about brewing. 2025 saw us grow our community by 60 new members of staff across the company, and become a certified B Corp, giving us an even greater responsibility to keep improving.

“With ambitious plans to reduce our emissions further already underway, and having welcomed Damian Guha into the fold as CEO earlier this year, we’re looking to the future with a powerful sense of purpose.

“We’re excited for this next chapter and the impact we can make together, whilst staying true to our commitment to looking after our people, our communities and our planet.”