A craft beer taproom and bottle shop in St Ives has been forced to close, its owner has confirmed.

Matt Kelly told The Hunts Post that "rising costs" had forced him to shut the Filling Station, which he founded three years ago.

The 40ft converted shipping container in Harrison Way was launched in 2021, consisting of a chilled cellar, customer taproom with 10 draught beers.

It also featured a retail space with fridges stocking 150 different UK breweries and state of the art dispensing technology.

Mr Kelly said: "We're gutted to have to be making this decision but the costs just keep going up and up and its not viable for us to stay open.

"We won the biggest industry accolades in the UK, being crowned independent Beer and Cider retailer of the year and Food and Drink Start Up of the year in 2023, so having to shut down feels like a real loss for the town and wider region.

"We will be selling down our stock on Fridays and Saturdays only for the next few weeks.

He added: "Another factor that has really impacted us are the changes to Alcohol Duty which came into effect in August 2023."

Last year the government announced it would increase the duty rates for alcohol products in line with the Retail Price Index.

It also increased the value of Draught Relief from 5 per cent to 9.2 per cent for Pubs, but this relief was not available for “TakeAway” Draught Beer, so we were at a price disadvantage.

Mr Kelly claimed this duty disparity and the never ending rising costs associated with this business combined to make it impossible to continue.

Mr Kelly also launched the award winning Snug Micro Pub in October 2023, which remains the smallest pub in Cambridgeshire.

He confirmed that as a separate business, this will not be impacted by the Filling Station closure and remains open and looks forward to a busy Christmas trading period.

The speakeasy-styled pub is located in Free Church Passage and has quickly become a very popular spot for local residents, offering a range of beers from local and independent breweries, incredible Cocktails and locally sourced wines

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