The ambitious owners of a flourishing brewery have revealed plans to create a visitor centre in Ilkley.

Stewart Ross and Chris Ives are the men behind the success of the Ilkley Brewery, which was founded in 2009. Now they have moved into new, bigger premises to help keep up with the demand for their award-winning beers and provide space for more expansion.

The 2,600sq ft premises in Ashlands Road, Ilkley, will be officially opened later this week, and the duo say they are ahead of the three-year plan they had when they formed the brewery, and have now set some new goals.

One of their targets is to build on tourism in the town to create a visitor centre.

Mr Ives said the company was in talks with supermarket giant Tesco about the old Spooner Factory in Mayfield Road, which will be the site of a controversial new superstore. The factory site includes some of the original buildings belonging to the first Ilkley Brewery, The Ilkley Brewery and Aerated Water Company, which was founded in 1873 in Brewery Road.

It grew into one of the largest breweries in Yorkshire before being taken over by Hammond’s Bradford Brewery Co in 1923, until trade gradually diminished on the site after this time.

  • Read the full story in Tuesday's T&A