1m euro expansion by Irish craft brewer

Carlow Brewing Company, also known as O’Hara’s Brewery, has announced that it plans to expand its business by creating 12 new jobs at its headquarters in Carlow, Ireland, to bring its total employee count to over 50. The company has vacancies for a wide range of positions that have arisen as a result of the continued growth of the business, as well as the increasing popularity of craft beer.

Carlow Brewing Company, which has been in existence for almost 20 years, is Ireland’s leading craft beer producer, and has had huge success exporting, as well as selling domestically. This has been driven principally by the O’Hara’s Irish Craft Beer brand, (which includes stouts, wheat beers, ales and lagers). The 12 permanent positions will be filled within three months and coupled with continued plant expansion increasing its brewing and packaging capacity further, this will result in an investment of €1M+ by the brewery. Carlow Brewing Company is supported in job expansion by Enterprise Ireland.

Seamus O’Hara, CEO, Carlow Brewing Company (pictured above), said, “We are delighted to be in a position whereby we can create new jobs. We are always on the lookout for fresh talent, and this is the perfect opportunity for us to further strengthen our team across the board, and bring new life, vibrancy and ideas to our organisation.

 “Today’s announcement is testament to the fact that if you support craft breweries you will also in turn create jobs. We are currently looking to add more space to our operations and in time this will facilitate further expansion and lead to additional jobs.”

Mr O’Hara added: “Small, local breweries have been a success story in Ireland during recent years, and with craft beer accounting for only 1.5% of the overall beer market, we are confident there is plenty of room for growth. With the creation of these new jobs, we are supporting our existing customers, but also actively seeking new ones, and as a business we feel we are just at the beginning of what is an upward trajectory.”

The vacancies consist of the following and Carlow Brewing Company is looking for applicants with 3-5 years’ experience:

·              Supply Chain Manager

·              Export Sales (2x)

·              Sales – Key Account Manager (Ireland)

·              Maintenance (electrical)

·              Assistant Brewer

·              Brewery Operators  (x2)

·              Accounts Administrators (x2)

·              Administrator (including HR)

·              PA / general administrator

For more details see http://www.carlowbrewing.com/our-brewery/careers/?ao_confirm

In addition the company is also planning to take on 2-3 people later this year, through the Export Orientation Program (EOP), run by IBEC and Board Bia – those recruits will be based abroad.