Production at award-winning Ilkley Brewery is set to increase by more than a third to meet demand from both its home and overseas markets.

The firm has secured a £150,000 business loan from Finance Yorkshire to invest in fermentation and automatic cask filling equipment which will boost production capacity by 33 per cent at its Ashlands Road base.

While about 80 per cent of the brewery’s business centres on the delivery of its award-winning real cask ales to pubs within a 50-mile radius of Ilkley, it also supplies bottled beers to several supermarkets in Yorkshire.

The company is also looking at developing the potential to grow its international trade after an initial shipment of its bottled beers – including the flagship ‘Mary Jane’ – to the United States last year. Ilkley Brewery has also exported to Scandinavia and now plans to grow its markets in Sweden and Norway.

Ilkley Brewery is now also distributing its craft ales to China. Last week, 100 cases of beer, including Mary Jane, Joshua Jane, Ilkley Black, Dinner Ale and the Mayan, left the brewery for Shanghai from where it will be distributed to independent retail outlets across the country.

Chris Ives, managing director, who launched Ilkley Brewery in 2009 after a career in commercial property, said: “This initial Chinese order is just one pallet, so we’ll be very keen to hear how well it sells and what the Chinese craft beer market makes of our Yorkshire ale. If it’s well received, we could be looking at high volumes for future orders.

“The UK market for beers is very competitive and so it’s important we maintain our existing supply, grow and expand the markets we supply.

“We want to grow as much as we can and compete on quality and our people are passionate about what we do, and that has helped enormously in our success in a relatively short period of time.

Andy Chaffer, Finance Yorkshire investment manager, said: “Since its launch, Ilkley Brewery has grown exponentially, supported by a solid business strategy and a real passion among both those at the helm and those employed in the day to day brewing of its beers.”