On the 16th of October, we're celebrating our 5th Birthday here at Unity (stick the date in your diary, we have an awesome day planned!) so we're taking the opportunity to look back over those 5 years and the people that have helped Unity be who we are today. 

Each week leading up to our Birthday Party, I will be writing a blog celebrating the different groups of people who have formed who we are, be it our incredible staff, other breweries, our shareholders and of course you the drinkers. The community around us is what makes Unity who we are so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in. 

To kick us off, I wanted to give you a brief history of Unity, why we started and what we represent. Next up I'll be talking about our wonderful trade customers who have been so awesome in getting our beer into your hands. 

Unity was started by myself Jimmy, with the help of investment from family and friends (our first shareholders!), with the intention of creating unifying beer that brought people and ingredients together for enjoyment and relaxation with a focus on social and environmental responsibility. 

I had spent some time working for other breweries in London and Hampshire and wanted to create something that fit exactly how I wanted to do things, give me a creative outlet and reflect my values. So after sharing my business plan with a few people and finding premises in Portswood in Southampton, we got to work building Unity in 2016, with our first brew in October of that year. That's the short story, the longer one is for another time. 

Unity moved forward more than I could have imagined and so we needed to find a new home. In 2018 we decided to crowdfund to build our new brewery here in Northam in Southampton and in 2019 we welcomed over 300 new shareholders into the fold, at the same time becoming 55% community owned. This has allowed us not only to create more and better quality beer but to also create a destination taproom that is truly a community space. Shortly after starting production at our new site, the pandemic hit which has given us challenges we never thought we would face but we're still here, still growing (slowly and sustainably) and are making better beer than ever so I couldn't be more proud. 

Now with 10 members of incredible staff, an awesome community of drinkers, customers and collaborators and beer and a brand that truly represents who we are, the next 5 years are looking pretty exciting! Keep your eyes peeled for the next blog on our awesome trade customers that get our beer into your hands. 

Come and celebrate with us at the brewery on Saturday 16th of October, more details on the Facebook event HERE. 

You can also keep an eye on (and use!) the hashtag #UnityHigh5 to see all the shenanigans we're getting up to in preparation for our birthday party.