12th January 2026
Written by Rachel Wallace
Sustainability has become a defining focus for us in recent years, and 2025 marked one of our most impactful years to date. Across our brewing operations, we’ve been working hard to ensure that our growth never comes at the expense of the environment.
One of our biggest achievements has been the measurable improvements in energy efficiency at the new brewhouse up at Bredbury. Since moving into the site fully in April 2025, we’ve already reduced our carbon intensity by 0.97 kg CO₂e/hL at our brewing sites compared with 2022 levels - an exciting milestone so early in the investment.
Comparing September 2024 and September 2025, we delivered significant energy savings in our brewhouse. Electricity use dropped by 4.48 MWh, and gas consumption dropped by 46.39 MWh, totalling a 50.88 MWh reduction – an emission saving equivalent to the volume of 60 double-decker buses, or enough to power around four homes for a year!
These results are made possible by the state-of-the-art equipment now powering our Bredbury Brewhouse. New glycol chillers help cool beer more efficiently, vacuum pumps cut down the amount of water needed during brewing, and LED lighting has been installed throughout the warehouse. We’ve also upgraded to a new gas burner on our No. 2 steam boiler, further boosting efficiency.
Importantly, the consolidation of our two brewing sites into one has amplified these benefits. By bringing production under one roof, we’ve reduced diesel use from transporting beer between Unicorn Brewing and the Unicorn Packaging Centre. This not only reduces our diesel consumption, but also improves the efficiency of our vehicles long-term and helps reduce air pollution in and around Stockport town centre. This has also led to us cutting beer losses, lowered water consumption linked to road-tanker flushing, and decreased our combined gas and electricity usage across both sites.
With every improvement, we move closer to our goal: to be a net zero business by 2050. We want to be brewing great beer with a more conscious environmental footprint and shaping a more sustainable future for our business and our community. We are excited to see what this year brings!
You can visit our Sustainability page here:
