The Old Market venue and taproom putting accessibility at the forefront

Wiper and True Brewery and Taproom opened in July 2022 but have been brewing long before that.

Their brewery in St Werburgh’s has been opened since 2012 and the decision to expand was made in 2017. The new site is located in Old Market, behind Trinity Centre.

Not only does it offer brewery tours, the venue plays host to a number of events including yoga brunch, pottery workshops and live events from company’s such as Sofar Sounds.

With this in mind, the new site has tried to make it as accessible as possible.

Many venues can be hard to access, too narrow and, occasionally, not disability friendly. However, Wipe and True are doing their best to change this.

“I’d like to start by saying that the taproom isn’t as comprehensively accessible as we’d like it to be yet, ” Alice Howells, head of marketing at Wiper and True, tells Bristol24/7.

“We’ve still got loads more actions to take to make the venue truly accessible to absolutely everyone. So often in our industry, taprooms are built as an add-on to a brewery, rather than being designed from scratch with ease of access in mind.

“From the start of the Old Market Taproom project we wanted to change this, and create a space with accessibility and inclusivity in mind.”

This meant flat floors and level access throughout the taproom and beer garden and designing a large section of dropped bar, low enough for wheelchair users to comfortably order at.

The site also has large print menus available in our taproom, and we have some braille signage in place across the venue.

It’s not only the venue that has been designed with accessiblity in mind, the team have also completed training on how to make the taproom as inclusive as possible as well as how to make the experience enjoyable for all attendees.

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“All of our taproom team, and everyone in the wider business, too, have completed Leonard Cheshire’s ‘Disability Means Business’ training,” Alice explains.

“This covers a variety of access needs, from physical to communication. Although our taprooms are bar service as standard, our team have been trained to look out for customers who may not feel confident or able to come up to the bar and order, and how to ensure these customers feel welcomed.

“This training also covers disability-confident recruitment. We are keen to explore further communication training in the future.”

Despite this progress, the company believes there is more work to be done. Looking to the future, the team hope to implement a sign language version of their brewery tours as well as looking into some sound insulation for the venue, as the cavernous room and high ceilings can lead to additional difficulties for some.

“Wiper and True are constantly working towards becoming a truly inclusive brand,” Alice tells us. “We want to make sure that everybody can enjoy our beers and our venues, and we understand that to do that we need to proactively remove the barriers that currently limit this.”

Main photo: Aaron Gibson

Read next:

• Brand new Wiper and True brewery and taproom opens
• Taproom justifies decision not to show World Cup
• First look at Wiper & True’s vast new brewery and taproom

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