A man who “grew up smelling the hops and the malt” in Cardiff says he brought Brains brewery back from the brink of collapse.

Jon Bridge, the head of Brains, says he had spent the past three years trying to repay loans and turn the business around since Covid.

“I’m Cardiff born and bred,” he said.

“I remember my first pint of Brains with my dad. And I think there are many people across south Wales and beyond that have that emotional connection.

“It is one of those brands that gets under your skin,” he said.

Only in recent months has the 141-year-old brewery business managed to be free of millions of pounds of debt under Mr Bridge’s Project Phoenix.

But the restructure dramatically reduced the company from 1,600 staff to just 30.

Offloading the pubs was part of Mr Bridge’s attempt to deal with tens of millions of pounds of debt, and a pandemic which shut down the bulk of the business overnight.

“It was really challenging for a long period of time,” Mr Bridge said.

“Quite simply, the Brains brand had a bit too much debt. And then when the pandemic hit, it was a real challenge when you couldn’t trade a business.

“So when the pubs closed, it was a real problem.”

The company had debts of £76.4m, most of which had accumulated before the pandemic.

Mr Bridge worked with a number of banks to restructure and agree repayment of all of the debt, with the chief executive finally feeling confident about the company’s financial health by the summer of 2023.

“We’ve managed to navigate those challenging times. And it wasn’t just us, it was the whole drinks and hospitality industry that went through those challenges,” Mr Bridge said.

Brains is more than beer in Wales. Having been brewing in Cardiff since 1882, the company is still owned by the descendants of Samuel Arthur Brain.

The Welsh capital is adorned with Brains slogans painted on railway bridges, while the iconic brewery chimney on the banks of the River Taff remains emblazoned with the Brains name.

The brand even appeared on the chests of Wales’s iconic rugby union team of the 2000s, with Gavin Henson’s Grand Slam-winning kick in 2005 flashing the Brains logo to TV viewers around the world.

For a company steeped in cultural heritage, you would not need to be a Brains drinker to miss the beer, had it gone bust.

But a pint of Brains SA, or Skull Attack, isn’t for everyone.

The thought of nursing a gently warming pint of SA in a stuffy pub may be dreamy nostalgia for some, but it won’t win over some of its newer customers.

The company knows that too, and the resurgence of the Brains brand hopes to strike a careful balance between its traditional appeal, and a desire to branch out.

“We’re very conscious of our loyal consumers that have drunk the beers for decades. So there are no plans to change those beers,” he said.

As a brewer that no longer runs its own pubs, part of Brains’ challenge will be to ensure its beers are available at the bar.

“I think we’re more agile, we’re leaner than we used to be,” said Mr Bridge. “It really feels like we turned a corner, and it is about the positivity of the future.

“I like to be visionary, I like to be able to move forward rather than looking back.”