Northern Monk

This Leeds brewing company lost business during the pandemic but it is nothing if not enterprising. It doesn't just sell beer (and lots of it) on its website, you can also buy Northern Monk socks and, for your car, Fresh from the North air freshener.

Russell Bisset got the idea for the business, inspired in part by the monastic brewing tradition in northern England, after his grandmother sold her house and gifted him £5,000 in 2013. Northern Monk now makes up to seven times as much beer in one day as it during the whole of that year.

In 2014 it found and renovated a listed mill building just outside the centre of Leeds to house a brewery, tap room and events space, securing nationwide distribution within months of launch. It grew with the help of crowdfunding, hitting its initial £500,000 target and eventually raising £1.5m in less than a fortnight in 2018.

Northern Monk now has a workforce of 70 and sites in Leeds and Manchester. It encourages a collective spirit and took action to look after its staff when coronavirus arrived last year. Among other initiatives it started a partnership with the wellbeing specialists Sanctus, offering free mental health support to its employees.

In 2019 the company created the For The North foundation to support inspiring causes, businesses, charities and projects in the region. It later changed its name to Faith in Futures.