Home brew business creates five jobs amid plan to expand north and south of the border

A CO Antrim f i r m has announced the creation of five new jobs, with a £250,000 investment funding an expansion of its premises.

Get Er Brewed, a l eading home brewery equipment and hops supplier, has already filled three of the five positions, with the jobs going to people recently made redundant by nearby bus manufacturer Wrightbus.

Plans are under way to double the size of the company’s warehouse capacity at its headquarters on the outskirts of Randalstown by 10,000 sq ft, while also creating additional office space and cold storage.

The company has made a similar investment to set up premises in Dundalk as it prepares to mitigate against the effects of Brexit and continue to provide a service to its customers in the Republic of Ireland and the rest of the EU.

Deborah Mitchell, managing director of the firm, said: “Get Er Brewed started trading in April 2013, focusing on starting a home brew revolution.

“It has gone from strength to strength as the rewarding hobby of home brewing has become big business.

“Modern-day home brewers want to create better than shopbought and the days of brewing in your hot press are long gone.

Deborah Mitchell, managing director of Get Er Brewed

“We ship home brew equipment and ingredients across Europe, but our main business now is supplying microbreweries in Ireland, both north and south,

and we source the finest brewing ingredients from across the globe, travelling as far afield as Australia in March this year to source some Australian hops.

“We have partnered with key distribution partners across the world and now are recognised as the largest brewing ingredient supplier in Ireland.

“We also have a purpose-made distribution centre set up specifically to handle brewing ingredients, which include everything from malt to cold-stored hops and yeast.”

As well as its core business, Get Er Brewed has expanded into the gin industry and launched its own gin, Frankie and Eileen’s, in June last year.

The expansion of the warehouse will allow visitors to come on site and watch the distilling process, which the company hopes will prove to be a draw to the growing number of tourists coming to Northern Ireland.

“We believe this will be a welcome boost to the local economy as more people are becoming interested in the microbrewery and distillery business,” said Mrs Mitchell.

“Essentially, brewing is in the lifeblood of our team and we have been recruiting to deal with our growth trajectory.

“We recruited three staff from Wrightbus when they had problems recently.

“We currently have two roles advertised — one in sales and one for a graphic designer and web master role.

“It’s an exciting time to be in the industry. Craft brewing and distilling is still very much a juvenile market here in Ireland, so we have an exciting future ahead.”