TIMOTHY Taylor is Yorkshire's strongest brand – and that's official!

The world-famous brewery showed its mettle in a new competition staged by Keighley Laboratories.

One of the Keighley brewer's beer kegs withstood the greatest pressure of various items put through a tensile testing machine at Labs' South Street base.

The keg survived a huge 213.5 kilonewtons (kN) of force before being crushed.

It was up against contenders including a bottle opener – which could cope with 9.45kN – and a magnet, which survived up to just 6.11kN.

The test of might was part of a wider initiative aimed at promoting graduate opportunities within industries such as engineering, where there's currently an annual shortfall of 29,000 people with the skills needed to meet demand.

Debbie Mellor, managing director at Keighley Labs, said: "The competition was a great opportunity for local brands to get their name out there in an engaging and unique way – which is particularly important for those who are looking to attract a more mainstream or younger customer base.

"There’s a breadth of graduates and other young people in Yorkshire who would be perfectly suited to industries such as engineering, but who aren’t aware of what a job in this sector could look like – or how suitable they are for the role. That’s why a competition like this is ideal, as it looks to put hiring brands in front of a new, young talent pool.

"The onus is on local employers to prioritise appealing to the younger generation, in order to diversify the job market and close the regional skills gap. This means setting realistic job requirements and tailoring brand persona to appeal to the target audience.

"At Keighley Labs we are a proud advocate for local graduate schemes and apprenticeships."

Timothy Taylor said it was delighted with its competition success, and to support the initiative.

Scott Cameron, the company's senior brand marketing manager, said: "We were very pleased to learn that we're Yorkshire’s strongest brand!

"Here at Timothy Taylor’s, we absolutely echo Keighley Labs' call for a younger generation to consider engineering or manufacturing as a career option – and were more than happy to get involved in such a great initiative by donating one of our retired casks.

"The squashed cask is currently sitting in pride of place here at the brewery – one of the more unique trophies we’ve won over our 164-year history!"