London-based craft brewer Beavertown Brewery has sold a minority stake in its business to Heineken, providing a £40 million cash injection to build a new site.

The maker of Neck Oil and Gamma Ray beers said the investment marks “a huge leap to the next level” as it aims to build a new facility with ten times the brewing capacity of its current brewery.

The new 125,000-square-foot unit will feature a fully automated 150hl brewhouse and will have a total on-site capacity of 450,000hl as Beavertown aims to get its beer “on to every street corner in the UK and beyond”. It is estimated the facility will create around 150 jobs.

Meanwhile, the firm’s facility in Tottenham Hale will be used for brewing special releases and seasonal beers.

The deal marks a promising investment by Heineken and complements its purchase of a minority stake in Brixton Brewery last year. Beavertown’s new facility, which the brand says will “represent the pinnacle of brewing” sees the beer maker square up to fellow London craft beer brand Camden Town Brewery, which was acquired by AB InBev in 2015.

Beavertown could also be given a boost as it gains access to Heineken’s 2,900-strong UK pub network which, as it was announced earlier this week, will be given a £44 million cash injection to upgrade around 500 of its pubs.

Beavertown CEO and founder Logan Plant (the son of Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant) will keep his role.

“In choosing Heineken, we’ve met the criteria we set ourselves and that were important to us as a company and a team – we retain full control of our destiny,” he said in a post on the firm’s website.

“I continue to be the founder, CEO and visionary leading the Beavertown charge and the people you deal with here at the brewery are and will continue to be the dedicated team Beaver. Heineken want to support us where we want it and otherwise leave us to get on doing what we do best. If there is anything that they can help with to improve our business across the board, they are there to assist, if we reach out.

“Beavertown will be the same as we always were, and we will continue to forge our own path together as team Beaver. We retain the freedom to do our own thing. The relationships with our accounts, distributors, suppliers and brewing family and friends stays exactly the same.

“Who we work with and how we work with them stays exactly the same. I can’t stress enough how imperative this has been to us throughout the process. Heineken do not want us to conform or change. They love what we do and want us to do more of it. That support gives us the opportunity to maximise what we do best and support our partners and team along the way to achieve and grow together.

“The only change will be the building of Beaverworld, hopefully with completion and beer flowing by late 2019.”