William Bros
Member Spotlight
“Brewing is a community,” believes Brian O’Shea, Commercial Manager of Williams Bros Brewing Co. “While naturally there’s competition, if something goes wrong at our neighbour’s place, one of our brewers will go and help them out. If something breaks down or someone needs a part, we’ll all pitch in. I’ve never known an industry like it, but then a lot of these guys have grown up together, going round beer festivals and the like.”
Growing up in beer is part of the origin story of William Bros, a family business founded around the kitchen table by real-life brothers Scott and Bruce Williams, which has developed into one of Scotland’s biggest beverage names. Bruce's son, Chris Williams, has taken his place in the business on a day-to-day basis, and it was the decision in 2004 to relocate to Alloa, the former brewing heartland of Scotland, that turbo-charged their success.
Brian explained: “While we are the last brewer in town now, the infrastructure is here – our bottle supplier is on the same street and most of the barley we use is grown within 50 miles of Alloa. We employ 50 locals, which is a fair number of jobs, and we’ve got a low turnover – that’s why our beer is so consistent. It’s a nice environment to work in. Despite the size of the business, it feels far away from the corporate world.”
Other well-known craft beer brands have perhaps grabbed a bigger share of the spotlight before crashing back down to earth with some very public losses. So, what’s the secret to William Bros’ success? Steady growth, no stunts and a simple strategy, according to Brian.
“Our strategy is clear – make the lines bigger,” he said. “Historically, we’re one of the big guys in Scotland, and we know we’ve got good beer that drives repeat custom. So, we’re focusing on distribution in England to get more beer in more places across the UK. And we follow the market closely. Right now, there’s a lot of growth within world lagers. In fact, craft beer accounts for just 13% of the market in total, so our newest product is a premium lager called Ceilidh, which we’re very excited about. But really, the secret is ‘slow and steady wins the race’, you know? Just make good beer and sell good beer!”
Brian makes it sound simple, but it’s clear the strategy is based on following the data, as well as holding true to a vision of what a modern Scottish brewery should look and feel like. “We aim to sell great beer at competitive prices,” he explained. “One way we can do that is by avoiding a huge marketing budget. The big boys will spend around 20% of their turnover on campaigns, and if you want world-wide recognition, that’s one way to go. But if you want to prioritise steady growth, that’s maybe not the right thing to do. In many ways, we still feel like a start-up – if something goes wrong with a delivery, Scott will jump in a van to sort it out. There are no egos; it’s customer first.”
Brian also makes full use of The Knowledge Bank: “The insight and data they provide is huge. We talk about competing against the big boys. They have in-house category management teams – we have me doing some analysis on spreadsheets. When it comes to pitches and understanding a busy, constantly changing category, the data we get through The Knowledge Bank is invaluable.”
Equally valuable is the engaged community of food and drink professionals that Brian’s Scotland Food & Drink membership gives him access to. He said: “We all do different things, but whatever you do, there are always similarities in terms of what you’re going through as a business. It’s all about community, after all.”
