Alongside lecturing at the University, his brewing interests were realised when he started carrying out analysis work for the company Brewlab, a company he would later become the Operations Director for in 1998. In 1997 he was instrumental in the formation of the company The Darwin Brewery. After 25 years in Sunderland and 17 years at Brewlab running the laboratory and training courses there, he joined Northumbria University in June 2009 as a Senior Lecturer in Food Biotechnology. Promoted in January of 2012 to Principal Lecturer, he took on the role of International Development Manager in the School of Life Sciences, as well as continuing to be the Programme Leader for the undergraduate Biotechnology degree. With the formation of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, he maintained his International role, by taking up the position of Director of International Development and Recruitment and has been involved with a number of successful collaborative ventures in Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

K.R. Thomas and S. J. Usher. Interactions between lactic acid bacteria and malting barley. Aspects of Applied Biology. 2001. 63. 239-250. Various articles in journals such as The Brewer and New Food, in the brewing, Quality Control and Microbiological analysis areas.