A BORDERS brewer is celebrating this week after landing almost £400,000 of funding to open up new overseas markets.

A new shop and visitor attraction is also planned at Broughton Ales.

The 40-year-old Peeblesshire business will significantly increase its domestic and export beer sales after securing £395,000 from HSBC.

The funding package includes a loan as well as asset and invoice financing.

And it will allow Broughton Ales to increase overall production and satisfy the growing demand for authentic beer in the UK and abroad.

The asset finance will be used to improve and expand the firm’s brewing equipment with new fermenting and conditioning facilities, including new tanks, and temperature control equipment installed to further enhance the quality and enable growth in the quantity of beer being produced.

Co-owner and director, John Hunt, who leads the firm’s finance and strategy, told us: “Since the new management team came on board at the end of 2015, our aim has been to build a stronger presence in what is a growing market for authentic beers with real provenance.

"We also plan make our products more accessible to markets around the world, in particular in northern and southern Europe and the United States.

“I am confident the funding package will go a long way to help us achieve our growth ambitions.

"It will help us increase our quality and capacity of the production of our key brands, and accelerate plans to build a local visitor and tourist attraction at the brewery.”

Broughton Ales, which was founded in 1979, also aims to support its growth by upgrading its sales, export marketing, IT and customer relationship systems.

The finance package was allocated from HSBC’s national £10 billion SME fund to actively support UK small to medium sized enterprises

A total of £500 million is specifically designated to support Scottish firms and rebalance the economy outside of London.

Susan Rowand, head of business banking for HSBC in Scotland, added: “We are thrilled to be supporting a business with such strong Scottish roots and heritage.

"Broughton Ales has both exciting and ambitious growth plans, a reflection of the increasing demand for Scottish food and drink in overseas markets.

"We are confident our funding package and expertise will help the business realise its growth targets in the months and years to come.”