The acquisition of Bath Ales has helped St Austell Brewery achieve a record annual turnover of £153m and earn a place among the UK’s fastest-growing mid-market firms for the first time.
Following the Bath Ales takeover in July last year, Cornwall-based St Austell’s sales powered ahead by 14%. 
The brewery, which was founded in 1851 and owns 167 pubs across the South West, employs around 1,380 staff. It made an operating profit of £14m in the year to last December.
Its growth has propelled the brewery, best known for its Tribute, Proper Job IPA and Korev lager brands, onto the annual Sunday Times Grant Thornton Top Track 250 league table.
The table, in which St Austell appears in 175th place, showcases Britain’s private mid-market growth companies with the biggest sales.
St Austell, which is 100% owned by the Hicks family, its management and employees, stands alongside the likes of Aston Martin, Holland & Barrett, Travelodge, The Hut Group and PureGym in the rankings.
The league table and awards programme is sponsored by Grant Thornton and Lloyds Banking Group, and compiled by Fast Track, the research and networking events company. It is published this weekend for the 13th year.
Tim Lincoln, Partner at Grant Thornton UK partner Tim Lincoln said: “The UK may be at a pivotal point in its history, but the Top Track 250 clearly demonstrates what can be achieved by exciting dynamic businesses.
“These companies think locally and act globally, they innovate to grow and embrace an entrepreneurial spirit that this country needs to secure a positive post-Brexit future.”
St Austell last year reached the landmark figure of producing 100,000 brewer’s barrels of its own brand beers – equivalent to 28.8m pints.
Its acquisition of Bath Ales included its brewery and bottling plant at Warmley, between Bath and Bristol, its portfolio of beer brands and its 11-strong pub estate, including The Hop Pole and The Salamander pubs in Bath.
Its Graze bar and restaurant next to Bath Spa railway station also features a microbrewery. Bath Ales’ beer brands include its flagship Gem bitter, Barnsey, Dark Side, Wild Hare and Ginger Hare.
Earlier this month St Austell’s strong growth and a track record of innovation earned it the prestigious title of 2017 PwC West of England Business of Year.
St Austell is one of 11 South West companies in the Top Track 250. Others include construction group Beard, car dealership Dick Lovett and furniture retailer Oak Furniture Land – all based in Swindon – Bristol-based catering equipment supplier Nisbets, Stroud-based green energy supplier Ecotricity, and Blagdon, Somerset-based yogurt maker Yeo Valley.
