BREWGOODER has bolstered its board with two senior hires from the Scottish corporate scene as the social enterprise targets lifting turnover to £2.5 million
by 2021.
The firm, which directs all profits from sales of its craft lager to fund clean water projects in Malawi, has recruited Shane Corstorphine from Skyscanner and Patrick Hartless from William Grant & Sons to provide strategic input as it targets a significant scaling up of its operations.
Mr Corstorphine was chief financial officer at Edinburgh-based Skyscanner during the years of massive expansion which saw it achieve “unicorn” status – the tag given to firms worth $1 billion – and
ultimately sold to China’s C-trip in a
£1.4 billion deal in late 2016. He continues to play a senior role at the travel search specialist as senior VP of growth.
Mr Hartless is the global supply chain director of William Grant, the Scotch whisky distiller and Scotland’s most
profitable family-owned company, which exports to 200 countries.
The latest appointments, which expand the Brewgooder board to seven, come as the social enterprise said its sales have risen by 212 per cent to £554,000 this year, driven by listings in Tesco, Asda and the Co-operative Group. And the firm, which was set up by Alan Mahon alongside Social Bite founder Josh Littlejohn in 2016, anticipates turnover will have risen by 65% to £850,000 by the end of its current financial year in April.
The growth is allowing Brewgooder to increase the number of people it provides clean water to. A recent audit showed projects carried out by the social enterprise have delivered clean water to 53,381 people through 72 projects in Malawi, up 13,781 on the last count. Projects currently funded by Brewgooder provide clean water to 2,000 people per month in Malawi.
Having focused its efforts in Malawi, it now plans to extend its campaign to Ghana, and by the end of next year aims to provide more than 100,000 people with clean water.
The ultimate ambition of the company is to provide one million people with clean water.
Asked what had attracted him to the Brewgooder role, Mr Corstorphine highlighted the opportunity to work for an enterprise which has a mission to do something “wonderful for the world”. He said he was impressed by Mr Mahon’s “vision and approach” for the venture, which benefits from sales of beer made by BrewDog in Ellon, Aberdeenshire.
Mr Corstorphine said: “Alan has a vision that is disruptive and aligned with the tech industry in how he thinks about solving challenges in the brewing industry and the beer industry in particular. That I love. It is taking that disruptive tech approach to a traditional area. That for me is super exciting.”
Mr Corstorphine added: “My father was in the brewing industry, so I have grown up knowing this area relatively well, and therefore [I am] dead excited. I am very fortunate to be offered the opportunity to be honest.”
Mr Mahon said the arrival of Mr Corstorphine would help shift the “mindset” of Brewgooder from start-up to scale-up, Noting that social enterprises are traditionally not geared towards or “inherently against” scaling up, he said: “The way we get to that initial target of one million people is by selling a lot of beer and selling it in the most profitable way possible. So if we can learn from a different industry, albeit in tech, how we can make decisions at the start of the business that set us in good stead for scaling up… for me is the most exciting thing he can bring, as well as just a different perspective.”
Asked what Mr Hartless, previously an executive director at Nestle, will offer Brewgooder, Mr Mahon said he would offer a “completely different macro view to how the industry works from a supply chain point of view”.
Mr Mahon noted: “He’s obviously hugely experienced in many different markets and again just brings a different approach, a different set of eyes to evaluate how we are making decisions.”
Mr Hartless said: “It’s a fascinating time to join the board of Brewgooder. I look forward to bringing my experience in the food and drink sector and playing a part in the ongoing growth of the business.”
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