Maximising Grant ROI at Vault City Brewing
How Brew Resourceful helped Vault City:
Six Technologies, 2.9 Year Payback. Vault City’s Road to Energy Independence and sustainability through smart CAPEX spend.
Key Points
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£944k projected cashflow savings over 10 years
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1,937 t CO₂e reduction
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21 different technologies investigated
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6 implemented or recommended for immediate investment
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Average payback: 2.9 years
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100% process-gas self-sufficiency by 2026
“Our funding for capex projects is limited - we have to be certain we're investing to achieve the strongest ROI we can. Brew Resourceful built clear models, showed us the true numbers, and gave us the confidence to invest knowing the return would come quickly.”
— Steve Smith-Hay, Vault City Brewing
A big thank you to Vault City for allowing me to use their name and data for this case study!
Total Project Savings
The Client & The Challenge
Vault City Brewing is one of the UK’s most innovative modern craft breweries, known for its sour and out there beers with a focus on being great employers and people too. Following growth and a new brewery build on the way, Vault City received Scottish Enterprise funding to explore how best to decarbonise operations and future-proof the business, the owner Steve has a particular goal of total self-sufficiency.
With funding opportunities finite, every pound had to count. The challenge was to maximise ROI from the grant - identifying which technologies would genuinely deliver measurable return rather than simply look good on paper. Brew Resourceful was brought in to ensure data-driven prioritisation, rigorous benchmarking, and transparent financial modelling across every potential investment.
Our Approach
No two breweries are the same. So it was essential to conduct a unique and independent audit of Vault City's processes and energy, utility, and raw material consumption. So Brew Resourceful conducted a comprehensive technical and financial evaluation of Vault City’s energy, gas, water, and CO₂ usage.
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Built intensity metrics for all utilities to create a validated baseline.
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Benchmarked performance against 92 UK and EU craft breweries to identify efficiency gaps.
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Modelled 21 different renewable or efficiency technologies, assessing financial, operational, and environmental return on each.
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Modelled them using a structured ROI and payback methodology to determine where grant funds would yield the highest impact.
Every recommendation was brewery-specific, designed to fit Vault City’s production profile, growth plans, and commitment to net zero in the future.
Key Findings
Across the project, 21 technologies were investigated in detail. These ranged from renewable generation and storage solutions through to heat recovery, gas substitution, and process-efficiency technologies. Each was evaluated for feasibility, payback, and carbon impact using real brewery data.
From these, six priority investments were identified as offering the greatest combined return and environmental benefit. Collectively they:
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Deliver a projected £944k cashflow saving over 10 years
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Cut carbon emissions by 1,937 tonnes of CO₂e
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Achieve an average payback of just 2.9 years
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Set Vault City on course to become fully self-sufficient on process gas by 2025
These results demonstrate how rigorous modelling can turn sustainability funding into just good business, ensuring every investment contributes directly to profitability and carbon reduction which is absolutely essential for all craft breweries.
Recomendations
Focus initial investment on short-term ROI technologies to generate cashflow for larger CAPEX items.
Integrate all renewable systems under a central performance-monitoring platform to maintain ROI visibility.
Continue validating utility intensity metrics annually to ensure future ROI modelling remains accurate and realistic.
Results & Impact
This project transformed Vault City’s sustainability plan from concept to concrete action. Rather than a single “green” installation, the brewery now has a data-driven investment roadmap covering the next decade of growth.
The outcome ensures that every grant-funded pound delivers measurable value-financially, environmentally, and operationally.
By aligning solar, storage, refrigeration, and gas-reduction technologies, Vault City is on track to cut its total CO₂e footprint by nearly 2,000 tonnes and secure energy independence years ahead of target.
What's Vault City's Opinion?
“Our funding for capex projects is limited – we have to be certain we're investing to achieve the strongest ROI we can. Brew Resourceful built clear models, showed us the true numbers, and gave us the confidence to invest knowing the return would come quickly.”
— Steve Smith-Hay, Vault City Brewing
Future Plans
Vault City will phase implementation of all six core technologies between 2025 and 2027, reinvesting early returns into further profit boosting, carbon-reduction projects.
Long-term, we hope the brewery aims to achieve net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions before 2030, while sharing its learnings with the wider UK brewing community.