September 2017

It has been a very busy month for the brewery. My first week at the start of the month involved a meeting with a local structural engineer, Paul Burley, who cast his eye over the property in Well street, making comments on how he liked the space and explaining what was required to make the building sound and ready for production. He pointed us in the direction of John Quigley, a damp preservation specialist, and David Little a stonemason from Dumfries.

Michael met with John and he indicated that we would need some work done on rising damp and I met with David who looked at the crack in the back wall and the gable end.

I have also been in constant communication with Homer Young a quantity surveyor from McGowan Miller in Dumfries. Homer has been helping us to secure the change of use of the building from the council. It is an old painter decorators after all! I met Homer and his associate at the building and he took all the measurements to draw up plans for the brewery. This will get submitted to the council and we should know if we have our change of use by October (fingers are crossed).

I also arranged an asbestos survey and by chance the company I approached had a surveyor who lives 2 doors down from the brewery. The results came through from the survey and who knew that old, black, 1970's toilets had asbestos in them?! I have arranged a meeting with an asbestos removal firm based in Glasgow at the end of the month.

I keep being emailed and asked about shares in the brewery and local interest keeps growing. I have prepared a draft prospectus, however, as I keep telling these thirsty locals, we must wait for the change of use before we start selling.

I spent a good day on the phone with water companies. Water being pretty crucial to a brewery and the cost of it! I discovered that we could be using up to 1.8 million litres a year which might just fill Moffat pond and then some. I did discover that buying such an old building does have its advantages: its an un-metered property so our water bill will be £300 annually.

I also continually research brewery sizes, gin recipes, brewing courses, logos and much more. There seems to be an endless pit of jobs that need doing. I do know though, that as soon as the change of use application comes through it is going to get ten times more hectic!