There is no doubt that the London brewing market is a mix of fortunes at the moment and so it’s great to see that Bianca Road Brewing is thriving. Their current story is however influenced by another nearby brewery, which unfortunately saw harder days after many years of initial success.
Two of Bianca Road’s owners formerly worked at Brew By Numbers. BBN began operations in a railway arch in Bermondsey before relocating its main production site to Greenwich in 2021, where it also operated a taproom. Unfortunately, BBN faced severe financial pressures from the COVID pandemic and so entered administration. It was sold to Breal Capital (later called Keystone) in 2023. Brewing continued in Bermondsey for a while before being transferred to the Black Sheep Brewery in Yorkshire.
Matt Simpson was working at nearby Bianca Road, set up by Reece Woods in 2016, and he persuaded Terry Staples, ex-BBN, to join him and Jordan Fancey, the head brewer. Then, last year, the duo were joined by Dennis Ratcliffe, also ex-BBN, and Andrew Fleming who is the head brewer at BrewPoint in Bedfordshire. The five then arranged a management buy-out of Bianca Road.
Terry, who looks after sales, said, “At this time we had three arches, which housed the cold room, brewery, tap room and Enid Street Bar. We moved into a fourth arch last year and set up a new enlarged tap room. This has provided us the space to move the cold room into the brewery and give the Enid Street Bar more space.” To help fund the expansion, Bianca Road ran a crowdfunding campaign in 2025, aiming to raise £20,000. Unlike traditional fundraising, it was a reward-based campaign with every investor getting £2 back in credit to spend at the new taproom (or via their online shop) for every £1 invested. This investment has transformed their operation. The brewery’s brew length has remained the same (3,000 litres, circa 18 barrels) with seven fermenters varying in size from 2,500 litres to 4,000 litres. In the early days, their canning operation was contracted out but, in 2019, they invested in their own canning line and this has continued to prove a good investment. Their core range: Easy, Juicy, Hazy and Crispy, are available via their online shop and at the Tap Room. Matt joked, “We are not very creative when it comes to beer names. “
The two tap rooms account for 50% of the brewery’s earnings but only 30% of volume, with the remaining 70% going through external trade. As part of the Bermondsey Beer Mile, their bars are standing room only on Saturdays. Dennis commented, “It’s great for turnover but we do need to employ door staff, simply to keep people safe. They forget we are on a busy street and visitors have a habit of just walking off the pavement and into the road.”
Most of the external sales are in the south east with 25 regular outlets, including the Craft Beer Co group and the ‘Tap’ chain, but they do have a permanent lager line in the Gateshead Central Bar! Currently, the emphasis is on keg beer but they are considering putting in a handpump in the Tap Room in due course.
The Enid Street Bar, just a couple of arches down from the new Tap Room, has a mezzanine seated area that can be hired and hosts a number of special interest groups. Dennis said, “We host a number of events from the usual meet the brewers, to poetry and folk groups and Dungeons and Dragon enthusiasts, who meet on Sundays. We see ourselves as a community and we are taking active steps to attract more women. We want more of a mixed audience.” The ethos of attracting the community is reflected by the 33% price discount on Mondays to Thursdays for people living in the local postcodes.
Their community engagement also reaches beyond the commercial. They work with Westminster House, a youth club in Peckham, ‘helping young people aged 8 to 18 make positive choices’. They brew a beer and donate to the youth club for every pint sold.
Going forward, Bianca Road are looking to grow. “We want more retail outlets,” said Terry. They certainly now have a solid base for the future and their two bars are worthy of a visit; they have spent the investment money well. And leaving the last word to Dennis, “We want to be open to everyone.” You will be assured of a warm welcome.
Christine Cryne