Not just a draughts man.

(From Off Licence News)

Harveys of Lewes, the East Sussex brewer with a 50-strong pub estate and an army of occasionally fanatical devotees, is virtually absent from the off-trade. But its brewery shop is one of the most popular stores in the county town. Cask and bottled beer is the major draw, but the shop also boasts the widest wine range for miles around.

Managing director Hamish Elder says the store benefits from the love of Lewes Apeople for all things independent - a Afactor he believes will always provide something of a stumbling block locally for supermarkets.

What is the beer to wine ratio ? It is trading currently at 1,200 barrels a year; it's our biggest single outlet for beer. Turnover is something like 60 per cent on draught, about 20 per cent on bottled beer and the rest is wine. The shop is packed with merchandise.

It's one of those things we seem to have a little bit of a Midas touch about. We put our name on it and it seems to work. It's not just what you'd expect, the cups and sweatshirts and things - there are some very peculiar gift items, stocking fillers, everything from keyrings to some decent porcelain. We're not looking to dress up the world in our T-shirts so they're walking around with Harveys adverts.

Are beer sales going up year on year? Arguably it has plateaued off in the last couple of years. If our beer is in growth it's probably the bottled beer range, which we are looking at all the time for new and commemorative possibilities, and different styles of beer that might be in vogue .

We're installing our own microbrewing plant, which should enable new ranges, and shorter lengths of commemorative beer production.