North Brewing Co. left ‘devastated’ and £25,000 short after ticketing platform is under moratorium weeks before festival
At a time when our industry is under enormous pressure due to the cost increases on Co2, utilities, distribution and raw materials this was terrible news for us to receive today."
This has had an overwhelming impact on the upcoming Springwell Sessions, but North Brew is determined to still deliver the event as planned.
With only two and a half weeks to go before North Brewing Co.'s flagship beer festival, The Springwell Sessions, the brewery has discovered that the ticket provider for the event, Event Genius of Festicket is under moratorium.
As a result, the ticket platform has had their bank accounts has been frozen, and left the Leeds' brewery over £25,000 short as no funds can be taken out of the accounts towards their future events, nor can ticket holders receive refund.
In just twelve hours, the company has managed to raise of £8,000, but is hoping to raise the full £25,000 before the festival at the end of the month.
In order to provide the much-anticipated festival, organisers have decided to set up a GoFundMe to cover costs, as well as ensuring that the company is still able to donate 10% of ticket sales to St George's Crypt, who were due to receive £2,000 from the ticket sales that can no longer be withdrawn.
North Brewing Co has been feeding Leeds since 2015 with some of the most exciting tipple in the city. / Image: North Brewing Co
The event itself is still set to be one of the most exciting ways to finish off summer in Leeds. From Friday 23 September to Sunday 25 September 2022, Springwell Sessions is bringing together 17 breweries from across the UK across three days of events, with independent wine shop, Bottle Chop, hosting a natural wine bar; No. 3 Gin shaking the cocktails, and street food will be provided by Little Bao Boy, Kerbside Kids, MorMor and Homeboy Pizza.
All set within a huge 21,000 square foot brewery in North Leeds, the site at Springwell produces 2.8 million pints of beer a year and is home to their flagship taproom, so Springwell Sessions will showcase exactly what you're tasting from the keg, as well as bringing together a list of independents and local breweries big and small to the event.
John Gyngell company founder said “At a time when our industry is under enormous pressure due to the cost increases on Co2, utilities, distribution and raw materials this was terrible news for us to receive today.
"Further to this we are disappointed to learn today that Festicket, who own Event Genius, continued to take payments from customers over the last 2 weeks despite filing for moratorium on 24th August.”
“To lose the ticket sales as a result of Event Genius collapsing has lost us in excess of £25,000. Regardless of this we are committed to running this festival. To help with this we have setup a GoFundMe page and we are reaching out to our friends, family and fellow brewers to support us given the lost revenue from the tickets.
"Already the conversations we have had with the brewers attending have been incredibly moving, and incredibly supportive. It is great to see everyone come together to help make this event a success.”
Springwell has been open since April 2021. / Image: Springwell
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“We built the brewery and taproom at Springwell during lockdowns, finally opening our doors to the public in April 2021. The Springwell Sessions is our first beer festival at the venue and an amazing opportunity to showcase the brewery, work with our friends in the industry and put on an incredible event for the city of Leeds.”
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
The Swine That Dines announces the official opening date of its brand new restaurant
Clementine Hall
Much-loved Leeds Bistro The Swine Bistro, formerly known as The Swine That Dines, has moved to a bigger space in Headingley.
Although it’s gone through a few name changes over the years since launching as The Greedy Pig cafe in 2012, this independent spot has long been a firm favourite for Leeds locals for some time now.
Run by chef couple Jo and Stu Myers, they’ve been operating out of North Street where it’s all about cooking seasonal produce simply and with an added ‘little bit of sunshine’.
But now Swine Bistro has moved up over to Headingley, taking up a unit previously occupied by Jam hairdressers on Otley Road.
Image: Supplied
And the time has finally come for them to open their doors, as they announce their first service will take place on Friday 4 April with bookings open from today, Thursday 20 March.
The Myers will be welcoming head chef Kirsty Cheetham, who won Observer Food Monthly’s Best Sunday Lunch award in 2018 and 2022 when she ran The Queen o’t owd Thatch in South Milford, Leeds.
The expanded space in the restaurant has allowed the team to curate a bigger wine list which will include natural wines from Wayward Wines and Latitude Wines as well as local beers from Ilkley Brewery and Horsforth Brewery.
Image: Supplied
The team remains passionate about locally sourced ingredients and has partnered with a variety of Yorkshire suppliers including R&J Yorkshire for its fresh meat, Tarbetts fishmonger, cheese from George & Joseph cheesemongers and beans from micro roaster, Chipp Coffee Co.
Jo Myers, co-owner of the Swine Bistro said: “It’s taken a huge amount of time and effort to realise our dream to revamp what was previously a hairdresser into a fully functioning kitchen and restaurant. It’s been a wild ride but we’re excited, and slightly nervous, to finally open our doors.
“We love the vibe in Headingley and the time out has allowed us to have fun with our menu as well as take part in lots of essential taste testing of ingredients and drinks from our brilliant local suppliers. We can’t wait to welcome guests into our new restaurant!”
Sophie Smith -
8th September 2022 
