Cash boost for new Cromarty brewery
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A YOUNG Black Isle entrepreneur is to open a new brewery thanks to last-minute funding from a High Street bank.
Craig Middleton (23) is setting up the Cromarty Brewing Co at Davidston, Cromarty, and is due to open this autumn. He previously worked in the industry at the Cairngorm Brewery, Aviemore.
Cromarty has a history of brewing, back to the 1700s, but the old brewery closed in 1850. This new brewery will focus on crafted beers made with local produce.
The Cromarty Brewing Co received initial funding from the Scottish Government’s rural priority scheme and was expecting to complete additional funding through another bank, however, the lending was withdrawn after previous assurances, and Craig was left in limbo.
Craig turned to Clydesdale Bank’s small business manager in the area, Clare Wilson, who works out of the bank’s Academy Street office in Inverness.
He said, “Given the support of the Scottish Government for the brewery, it was doubly disappointing to be let down when we thought the additional funding was in place. I’d heard Clydesdale were still lending to businesses, so I turned to them.”
Clare said, “We are all delighted to have been able to step in and help Craig with the construction of the new brewery at Cromarty.”
