Brewery seeks skilled new staff
The boss of Arran Brewery has revealed his most difficult challenge is uncorking talented staff.
A new bottling line has arrived from Italy and managing director Gerald Michaluk hopes to get it installed as soon as possible.
Mr Michaluk said: ‘We need skilled bottling line operators, engineers and sales staff and hope to recruit them as soon as practical.’
But he added that finding the right staff is challenging.
He said: ‘It is imperative we get the right team in place as we expand and grow the business, but there is a shortage of great brewers, experienced and highly competent engineers, packaging professionals as well as experienced drinks sales profes- sionals in general. And when you add this to working on an island or a remote location in Perthshire, getting the right fit is difficult.
‘We have invested heavily in infrastructure and now our focus is on human resources and finding finance to enable us to deliver our vision for Arran and its associated brands.
‘Crowdfunding gives us a vehicle to achieve the required investment to grow the business.’
Arran Brewery operates from five sites in Scotland. As well as the brewery in Brodick and the guest house in Whiting Bay, it is in Dreghorn near Irvine, Glasgow and St Fillans on Loch Earn and one site in England near Cambridge, as well as having offices in the US and Spain. There are currently vacancies at all sites reports, Mr Michaluk.
The brewery plans to launch a second round of crowdfunding to increase the rate at which the company is growing.
Despite the staffing problems, he has started to recruit very capable staff and strengthened its management team with the appointment of Jason Addison as logistics manager and Eric Craig in key account sales.
Both bring a wealth of experience to the company which hopes to hire around 20 staff over the next 12 months.