Cider firm im-pressed with Spaciotempo’s temporary building

The UK’s leading producer of Supermarket own-label cider has increased its storage capacity by 20 per cent in preparation for a busy year, after investing in a temporary warehouse from Spaciotempo UK.

Aston Manor Brewery took delivery of the temporary building at its fermenting and bottling plant in Tiverton, Devon, during the run-up to Christmas, just in time to allow it to cope with the seasonal demand from customers.

The family-owned brewery, whose head office is in Birmingham, makes Kingstone Press, Knights and Frosty Jack’s ciders, but its main business at Tiverton is the production of own-label cider, which it brews on behalf of a host of top supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi.

While the sales of branded cider have peaked, the thirst for supermarkets’ premium own-label ciders is on the rise and the bottling plant, which Aston Manor opened in 2009, reached its full storage capacity last year.

This left the company potentially unable to increase its production in order to respond to seasonal spikes in demand, such as the festive period, the summer and during the run-up to the Chancellor’s Spring budget.

However, the new storage building from Spaciotempo solved its problem. Providing 600sqm of floor space, it has enough capacity to store 750 pallets, each containing 1,920 half litre bottles — equating to a thirst-quenching 720,000 litres of cider.

It was constructed using an aluminium frame bolted onto a concrete base, covered in steel panels and topped with a PVC fabric roof, and its design meant that it could be installed and fully functional in a matter of days — a factor which Paul Clifford, engineering director at Aston Manor, said came to the company’s rescue.

Mr Clifford said: “We’d had to wait for planning permission for the temporary storage building and it was getting very close to Christmas, so we had a potential crisis on our hands. Luckily, after we were given the go-ahead, the building simply flew up in a matter of days and we were able to move stock in.

“We’ve never used a temporary building before, but it’s already worked out extremely well for us. Not only was it constructed quickly, it looks as good as a permanent building — in fact, I have seen plenty of permanent structures that don’t look as good quality - and it is extremely cost-effective.”

The building was taken from Spaciotempo’s Neivalu range, whose design, with the lack of internal cross beams — a feature which improves with the installation of racking - was crucial in Aston Manor’s purchasing decision.

Measuring six metres at the eaves, the building was supplied with two 4m tall electric galvanised roller shutters, guttering and seven 250W high-bay mercury lights. It was also sealed at ground level to prevent water ingress.

Scott Jameson, director of sales at Spaciotempo, said: “Once Aston Manor received its planning permission, we were able to install the building and enable the company to meet its customers’ demands in the run up to Christmas.

“Speed of installation is a key feature of a temporary building and we are very pleased that it will now ensure that the business will not suffer through a lack of storage space.”

For more information about Spaciotempo and its products, please ring 01889 569569 or visit www.spaciotempo.co.uk