Friends and work colleagues Pat Garrett and Gary Olvanhill turned their love for beer into a successful business with help from RTC North.
After working together for 30 years at a local oil refinery the pair came to a crossroads either take redundancy or work in a different plant. They chose the latter resulting in Crafty Monkey Brewing Co became established.
Based near Hartlepool, Crafty Monkey Brewing Co welcomes all lovers of good ale and prides itself on producing a beer that the North East community enjoys and is proud of.
In the early stages of establishing the business, Pat and Gary attended an event organised by RTC North aimed at providing advice and direction to newly established businesses on how to take their businesses off the ground and succeed in the business world.
The pair were introduced to our Innovate 2 Succeed team, and David Boath worked with the pair to develop their idea, Gary explains:
“David from RTC provided us with loads of help including a business development plan, copywriting and business mentoring. David’s help has been invaluable. He also introduced us to other professionals from RTC including Sarah Pavlou who has helped the company develop their fantastic Crafty Monkey brand with further ideas for our business.
“We’ve had 30 years in industry, so manufacturing is second nature to us but everything else is new. When we hit a stumbling block or just need advice David is at the end of the phone and we feel he has gone that extra mile to help us. Nothing has been a problem for him.”
In the process of establishing Crafty Monkey Brewing, RTC supported Gary and Pat with almost all aspects of establishing a new business including market research, a business diagnostic, branding, marketing and sales and development of an innovative way of doing business. David added:
“Seeing Crafty Monkey Brewing Co get to where they are now in such a steady and healthy way and being able to contribute to their development has been an incredible experience for myself and my colleagues at RTC. It’s been a fantastic journey taking them upwards on the business ladder thanks to the Innovate 2 Succeed programme and I am looking forward to seeing where they end up in the future, which I’m sure will be positive and fruitful for them!”