The chap sweeping up at the gateway to Ilkley Brewery’s Ashlands Road site just outside the town centre turned out to be the boss, Chris Ives, who had been at work since 5am to start the morning brew.

Sweeping is the sort of job that provides thinking time – something which is especially crucial to the firm’s founder, as 2014 will be a crunch year for Ilkley brewery following four years of striking success and growth.

With growth – including export sales of bottled beers – set to continue, the key challenge is how to achieve the physical capacity to meet rising demand for Ilkley Brewery’s cask real ales and bottled beers.

When the business moved from a small unit in East Parade, its present home was expected to provide space for five years of expansion, but it is already close to outgrowing Ashlands Road.

So, where to go from here?

“We’re ahead of our growth plan and grew by another 20 per cent in 2013,” said Chris, whose previous career was in commercial property.

“To grow again after this year we’ll either have to have our beers brewed offsite by someone else, which is not really an option as you lose control, or we’ll need to relocate, ideally within Ilkley.

“Ideally, we’d like to build a new brewery with a visitor centre and bar which would help boost the town’s economy and tourism, and create another 30 or so jobs.

“We’re looking at the possibilities but it won’t be easy. It may be that we’ll have to stay here and develop a second site locally, providing extra capacity, but that won’t be ideal.”

He said finding the right site will be challenging, but he has the support of Bradford Council and local MP Kris Hopkins for his plans Since starting as a one-man band in 2009, Ilkley Brewery now has 14 staff.

If the expansion plans, including a visitor centre, come to fruition, Chris envisages the business employing around 50 people.

“We’ll need around five more people this year, as growth continues, but if we can relocate to a new site we’ll be able to treble capacity and that will generate another ten to 12 brewery jobs, with a similar number in the visitor centre and bar.

“None of the possibilities are easy to deliver.

“While we’re looking to relocate within 18 months, it could take at least three years, as finding the right site for us and the town will be a challenge,” said Chris.

In the last four years, Ilkley Brewery has more than tripled its turnover, its production and its head count since Chris Ives decided on a career change after the commercial property sector suffered during the recession What he thought would be a hobby business to see him through the tough times has become a real success story, festooned with brewing awards and interest in its products coming from various parts of the world as well as pubs within a 50-mile radius of the brewery.

He is proud to have re-established brewing in Ilkley. The original Ilkley Brewery and Aerated Water Company closed in 1920, after nearly 50 years of operating.

Since 2009, Ilkley Brewery’s production of craft beers has increased by more than 1,000 per cent. A key focus now is on exports for its range of bottled beers – developed to meet tastes in different markets.

In the United States, for instance, they like stronger brews than traditional ale drinkers in the UK and sip beer from smaller glasses rather than supping pints.

The brewery has opened up a new market in the southern United States after Chris took part in several official trade missions to the US to assess its potential.

Ilkley Brewery was approached by an importer, whose cloth business had shipped worsted cloth from Bradford to the States and who knew Yorkshire well. He visited the brewery and that resulted in an order for 30,000 bottles – the biggest so far – for distribution through supermarkets and other outlets across four Southern states.

Since then two more large orders have been placed.

Chris is also looking at Canada and Scandinavia and has had interest from China through Hong Kong.

“We had done our research on the US market and the contact from our import partner there led to a reception at the British Embassy in Washington which enabled us to showcase our beers to state-wide distributors and national supermarkets and gave the importer confidence to place the first order,” he said.

While cask ales will remain 80 per cent of Ilkley’s output, it is likely they will remain focused on pubs in the North whereas bottled beers will be key to the firm’s bid to become a nationally-recognised brand – including persuading Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Booths to sell them across their chains.

Generally, Ilkley Brewery doesn’t advertise but relies on word of mouth and social media to promote its brand and products and generate feedback.

Chris is keen for the business to stay close to its consumers – indeed some of its beers have been developed at the suggestion of and in conjunction with drinkers.

Ilkley Black dark mild was the suggestion of the Campaign for Real Ale Bradford branch and has become a leading seller.

He said: “We want to remain true to our roots of operating in Ilkley and supplying the best cask and bottled ales, while developing the Ilkley Brewery brand to enable us to pursue new opportunities.

“It’s gone faster and better than I expected at the start and the prospects are very exciting.

“It’s also much more fun than property development.

“It can be very satisfying sitting in a pub listening to what people think of the beer, especially if they’re enjoying them!”