A SCOTTISH island brewery has bought another drinks firm’s beer and bottling business as part of an expansion push.
Isle of Skye Brewing Company said it has purchased Black Wolf Brewery Limited and its beer brands from VC2 Brands in a move that will allow continued growth and development for both businesses.
The Skye brewer said that the six-figure deal means it can bolster its expansion south of the Border as well as further into Europe and the US.
Skye Bewing and Black Wolf, with 15 and six staff respectively, will operate as normal under the deal.
The Skye Brewing range of beers will continue to be brewed in Uig on the Isle of Skye and Black Wolf will continue to bottle for other brands.
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Black Wolf Brewery operates from Throsk near Stirling and was previously known as TSA (Traditional Scottish Ales) before rebranding and changing its name in 2014, in homage to its Stirlingshire roots.
Skye Brewing has been operating since 1995 and was purchased by Kenny Webster in 2013.
It has seen its sales treble over this period after a full rebrand and introduction of a new range of beers.
Skye Brewing turnover was £1.14 million in 2017 and £1.35m last year.
The Skye range of beers now totals 12 and includes its top performing Skye Gold, Red and Black, Blaven, Yer Ben, and new Skye Craft lager.
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Black Wolf produces a similar amount of craft, premium and heritage style brews including Rok IPA, Lomond Gold and 1488.
Before the purchase by Skye Brewing, Black Wolf Brewery was part of the VC2 Brands portfolio, which also includes Stivy’s Cider and Liqueur ranges, and Boë Gin.
Kenny Webster, of Isle of Skye Brewing Company, said: “The purchase of Black Wolf Brewery from our friends at VC2 brands is a hugely positive move for both businesses.
“For Skye Brewing in particular, by having our own owned bottling facilities, we’ll be able to meet current growth demands and look at additional opportunities.”
He also said: “Black Wolf Brewery did some bottling a couple of years ago and after speaking to the guys they said they were concentrating on their gin which is obviously flying for them, and we came to an agreement that they would sell out their brewing side of the business and it was a perfect fit for us.
“At the moment there are very few bottlers for bottling beer. We were looking at bringing in a bottling facility to Skye but again there were restraints on us here just because of the logistics of the location.
“Black Wolf do some bottling for some smaller brewers at the moment and we will continue to do that and try to help out as many of the smaller breweries.
“It will help a lot of the smaller brewers with our bottling line and it should help the whole Scottish market grow."
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He said: "When Skye Brewery first started in 1995 it was one of about five small breweries in the whole of Scotland and I think we’re at about 120 or maybe more at the moment.
“It is great for the economy, it is great competition, we certainly don’t worry about it, and the customer is always looking for new and exciting beers.
“We are also dealing with home brewers and we can scale up their beer for them. So if they produce what they think is a nice beer and want to get into the industry, they might go out and buy a small five-barrel brew plant and scale that up and then we can scale that up for them as well.
“It is exciting. The brewing side is very exciting at the moment and extremely buoyant.”
Graham Coull, of VC2 Brands, said: “We’ve worked with the team at Skye Brewing for a number of years and the deal we’ve brokered will secure the longevity, growth and future for both brands and wider businesses.
“This sale allows us to focus more on the Boë Gin brand which is growing very rapidly.”
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