FDBusiness.com

A brewery based on the Isle of Skye which is experiencing a growing demand for its award winning beers is to expand into new markets around the world. The £450,000 development at the Isle of Skye Brewing Company is being supported by a grant from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) at the company’s site in Uig, Isle of Skye.

The company is expanding the production capacity of its existing brewery in Uig where 12 staff are currently employed. This is the first phase of the business’ long term development plan with this initial expansion expected to create a further five jobs in Uig.

As the customer base continues to grow, the company has established a distribution centre in the central belt and recruited two business development managers to lead growth of the brewery’s customer base at home and abroad.

The brewery has also begun rebranding, with Red Cuillin becoming Skye Red, Black Cuillin now Skye Black and Hebridean Gold has become Skye Gold. The original product has been retained to keep its taste and quality but the rebrand has made it more attractive to modern drinkers.

HIE is supporting the project with a £116,000 grant to this first phase of a long term development for the company in Uig.

Kenny Webster, Managing Director of Isle of Skye Brewing Company, says: “There is so much more potential to grow the business both at home and internationally and we would like to introduce new kegged products. We are delighted with HIE’s investment as this will allow us to increase production, support our rebranding and establish new national and overseas markets. To accommodate the increase in production, a new building is required to house the existing storage to free up room within the current brewery building for new tanks. The developments will enable us to double our number of staff by next year and it will also triple our turnover in the next three years.”

The brewery was established with support from HIE in 1998.