Fife theatre technician aims to chisel out new career with craft beer brewery

PRODUCER: Microbrewery tour puts Blairadam-based Roy Herd on track to better worklife balance

Why did you start in business?

I spent a lot of time away on tour with my work as a theatre technician and my wife and I were looking for ways to ensure a better work-life balance.

While we were away for New Year to Whitby in 2017, we visited the Whitby Microbrewery. I was already interested in home brewing and after asking how they got started I decided to turn my beer into a business.

How did you get to where you are?

I have always had a strong interest in food and drink.

Once I launched The Blunt Chisel Brewery properly I knew I had to move my operation out of the kitchen.

The old wood workshop nearby was empty so I made that my new base.

It needed a lot of work but it had benefits for a brewery such as concrete floors, lots of space, thick walls and the water comes from a spring.

I’ve funded everything myself so I’ve juggled my theatre work with the brewing to make sure I can confidently invest in new equipment. Now, we’re selling around 600 bottles of our beer a month at local farmers’ markets.

Who has helped you along the way? Business Gateway was a great support and my adviser helped me with business planning, digital marketing, and location of premises.

I also attended a number of their startup workshops, which gave me a good grounding in key business skills. Also friends and family, mostly for putting up with my endless yeast dilemmas.

Your biggest mistake?

Rushing. I tried to set too many deadlines and when things went wrong I found myself under a lot of pressure to pull things back in order.

Your greatest achievement? Running out of beer at our first market.

We had to drive back to our storeroom to stock up. Sales astonished us and were much higher than predicted. Hopes for the future?

My immediate goals are for our beers to be represented at more markets and to make the brewery my main employment. I’d love to take part in a beer festival, too.

Do you want to recruit in the future? It may well be something I need to do in the future.

What is the hardest thing about running your own business? Multi-tasking. In any one day I might be brewing, researching products, repairing equipment, implementing our marketing plan then doing my books.

Advice for would-be entrepreneurs?

I have always been uneasy about the word entrepreneur, however, for me and many others it creates a different way of life for yourself, allows you to gain control of your work patterns and location, and make a difference to people and the planet.

With that in mind, don’t let jargon or fancy titles put you off, everyone has something to offer the world so find what it is and use it to pay the bills.

Roy Herd, of Blunt Chisel Brewery, now sells around 600 bottles of beer a month at farmers’ markets.