Alcohol wholesaler AVS Wines & Beers Ltd was established in 1990 by Linda and Philip Rush, initially selling wines and

beers from their kitchen table.

Now 28 years on and under new ownership, the beer and cider business has grown to an independent 4,500 square foot warehouse and two 8,500 cubic foot cold store at its Canal Industrial Park site.

There is space and resources to house up to 1,000 firkins at any time and the warehouse is HMRC bonded for monthly exports into Europe.

With a staff of seven, AVS is the only cask marque accredited wholesaler in London, the South East of England and Hertfordshire.

This seal of approval was awarded in recognition of consistently high standards and the quality of handling of all products sold.

Exports of cask ales are to Sweden, Finland and Germany and on the home front the company enjoys a lot of success supplying a number of major beer festivals.

These range from supplying beer to The CAMRA Great British Beer Festival to those organised by individual

pubs for their own customers. Micro pubs feature strongly as customers.

Finance Manager Chris Knott said: “Our goal is to provide a well-considered and varied range of beers.

“We aim to have over 40 award winners in stock and available to order all year round from across the country. Some are quite niche products.

“As with any wholesaler, it is a good idea to check stock availability as demand for a specific popular ale can outstrip supply. By contacting us directly we can then ensure you will never be disappointed.”

This year’s sponsors are: University of Greenwich, Barnes Roffe, Handleshanken, KM Media Group, Kuflink, Gravesham council, Rise Communications, Hatten Wyatt, Caxtons, Partnership Invoice Finance, GK Coffee Group (Starbucks), and SoftForge.