Up to 30 new jobs are brewing at Skibbereen's West Cork Distillers, after the firm completed a significant buyout deal
UP to 30 new jobs are brewing at Skibbereen’s West Cork Distillers, after the firm completed a significant buyout deal.
The whiskey and gin distillery on the Marsh Road looks set to expand its work force from around 70 to over 100.
This follows the founders’ reported buyout of the majority stake in the business held by UK-based Halewood group for an estimated €18m.
It’s also been reported that the distillery received €15m from the State’s Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), for an expansion of the business.
The distillery was founded in 2003 by friends Denis McCarthy, Ger McCarthy and John O’Connell in Union Hall. Ger and Denis were fishermen, while John was a scientist for food and beverage companies.
They’ve expanded rapidly in recent years and now distill seven days a week and have won several major industry awards.
Among the product they make is the recently-launched Grahan Norton gin for Aldi. The BBC star is a regular visitor to his native West Cork and has a holiday home in Ahakista.
He visited the plant to check out the production process for his gins in March and tweeted about it to his 1.4m followers.
His gin is flavoured from a combination of 12 botanicals including lemon peel, orange peel, elderflower, rose hip, and fuchsia flowers.
It’s reported the company made a profit of €4m in 2017 on sales of almost €20m.
