February marks our 15th year in business and I feel so proud of how much I’ve achieved and learnt during this time. Back in 2008, we were in a recession and I was a naïve 26 year old woman who had no experience of running a business, never mind setting one up from scratch. What I did have was a passion for Belgian beers, a complete and utter stubbornness to make it work and a strong work ethic, thanks to how I was brought up. Nothing in this world comes easy and if you want to succeed, you have to work hard!
I started off selling Belgian beer glasses on Ebay from our spare bedroom, then got my personal licence and found a small unit in Newcastle-under-Lyme. A basic website was built so I could sell Belgian beers and then over the years, the range expanded and so did my knowledge on what our customers wanted and expected. Fifteen years later and we’ve now moved three times, stock nearly six hundred different beers, flavoured gins, beer gift packs and branded glassware and last year, we also obtained a wholesaler’s certificate so we can now build up the trade side to the business with the sole emphasis to work with and support small local businesses (such as ourselves).