On the face of it, Roosters Brewery at Knaresborough in Yorkshire is just another one of hundreds of small brewers that have sprung up in Britain over the past ten years.
On closer inspection, however, anyone can see the commitment that the business owner, Sean Franklin, brings to creating world-class beers.
Sean started the brewery in 1993 following many years working in the wine and brewing business. To say Sean is passionate about beer-making is the understatement of the year. Referring to Roosters' range of award-winning beers, Sean said:
"We make no apology for the aromatic individuality of our beers. We realise that it may reduce what the big brewers call market share, but we think it's worthwhile to be different."
This passionate approach and commitment to full-flavoured beers can be seen across the Roosters' product range which comprises various quality beers of different styles and strengths as well as stout and a strong, full-bodied ginger beer!
When Sean first opened the brewery almost 20 years ago, production was eight barrels per week. Today, that figure averages more than sixty barrels. Along the way, this placed increasing pressure on the amount of space available in the company's single-storey production facility.
Separating out the growing amount of administration from beer production became a pressing need, especially as paperwork, computer equipment and other office paraphernalia were continually being splashed in the washing down processes that are essential in a working brewery.
To create a dedicated area for all office work, the decision was taken to install a mezzanine floor - a cost-effective solution that ruled out the need to extend the building or relocate.
After considering a handful of companies and comparing prices and specifications, Roosters appointed Revlok, a specialist manufacturer of bespoke mezzanine flooring systems.
With experience of installing mezzanine floors in schools, exhibition centres, airports and warehouses, the challenge at Roosters was of a different order.
Not only were there space limitations on the size of mezzanine floor that could be fitted. Another challenge was the curved roofline which imposed its own restrictions on the flooring design.
Undaunted, Revlok came up with a design for a floor that measured 7 metres by 3.8 metres. The mezzanine is 2.5m off ground level and has a 2m clearance under the suspended ceiling. A staircase conforming to the necessary building regulations was also installed.
Not only did this create enough floor space to move all the admin 'upstairs'. It also freed up the equivalent amount of space underneath the floor to provide valuable storage facilities.
The mezzanine floor is constructed from pre-galvanised steelwork and has a 35mm high-density particle board deck. It is also fully fire-rated to one-hour spread of flame.
