CHEERS to diversification! Tom and Gill Mellor realised that their 233-hectare farm with 20,000 free range hens in Driffield was suffering a fall in its traditional revenue streams.

The result was Wold Top – a real ale brewed at Hunmanby Grange, Wold Newton, using their home grown cereals, chalk-filtered water and Yorkshire family maltsters Now, seven years on, Wold Top Brewery, one of the North’s leading micro-breweries with a growing range of award winning beers, is being pitched as the Small Business Of The Year in The Press Business Awards 2010.

Production began with 300 gallons per week and no paid staff, and is now up to 2,000 gallons per week, with a team of eight plus temporary staff to help out as required.

The brewery produces a range of cask and bottled beers with names like Wold Top, Wold Gold and Centenary Way. Some are named after events of local significance like Falling Stone and Mars Magic.

Gill said: “We have opened 46 new accounts since January and all have reordered.

“We have encouraged existing customers with price incentives to commit to a full or half pallet in order to reduce delivery costs and mileage on our fleet of vehicles.”

The brewery is also exploring export markets.