The success of a Lossiemouth-based Craft Brewery was marked with a visit from the Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael this week.
Mr Carmichael called in at the Windswept Brewery after meeting with its owners during the Royal Highland Show last year.
Windswept was established in 2012 by two former servicemen with 617 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth. Nigel Tiddy and Alisdair Reid had for several years tried out their own beer recipes on family and friends with the feedback ultimately inspiring them to turn their skills to a commercial enterprise.
Since then the new business has gone from strength to strength, with national recognition of their brand growing along with sales throughout the UK and in Europe.
Visiting the brewery in Lossiemouth this week Mr Carmichael said: “I was extremely impressed by Windswept Brewing when I met them at last year’s Royal Highland Show.
“Having visited the brewery itself today, it’s clear they are one of the Highland’s success stories in an industry which is going from strength to strength.
“The UK Government wants to see Scottish companies like Windswept build on their success. Our cuts in duty have helped channel an extra £44 million in capital investment into the brewing and pub sector benefiting breweries such as Windswept together with over 5,000 pubs in Scotland and the 35,000 people employed directly in them.”
Nigel Tiddy said that he was delighted to show the Secretary of State around the brewery: “This was a valuable opportunity for us to share our concerns and successes with the minister.
“Having set out to bring employment opportunities to Lossiemouth, we are very proud of how the brewery has grown in just over two years of trading, now employing six people. With ambitious plans for expansion through 2015, we hope to see those numbers double in the next 12 months.”