Licence Problem? 
Friday, November 30, 2007, 08:30 PM
The mainland sales executive finds a message on his mobile phone from a lady at the licencing department of East Dunbartonshire Council. Can we phone her urgently. They're shut now for the weekend. Does this mean there is a problem for the Christmas Market licence at Milngavie on Wednesday. Hope not. Its fancy dress and David's spent ages working on his costume.

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Nervous Wait 
Friday, November 30, 2007, 03:24 PM
St Andrew's Day. Nothing from Peckhams. We're getting slightly worried that the lady in charge of buying at Peckhams may have misunderstood our approach and now thinks we're strange island stalkers. We watch the cars coming off the lunchtime ferry with trepidation believing it inevitable that Strathclyde's finest will roar up the pier, blue light flashing and ASBO in hand.
Phew - no polis in sight. Perhaps our own island constable PC McLeod is on the case.

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Say It With Flowers 
Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 11:19 AM
I hate to keep banging on but - - - - Being a small brewery with limited output and strained supply lines we have to be careful with the partners we work with. We need probably no more than 20 or so mainland outlets at this stage in our development. These along with the markets will keep things ticking along nicely. Prime amongst these are our friends at Peckhams. To them we are just another Scottish Brewery. To us they are a near perfect fit. So how do we convey to them just how important they are to us.
The boss, as ever, comes up with a plan. Say it with flowers. So we do.



Red Roses - they love our beer, we love their business so what could be better.

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Sign of the Times 
Tuesday, November 27, 2007, 03:41 PM
When we started our little brewery here in the Hebrides we ordered all the bottle labels we could afford which meant the unit cost of them was fairly large. No economy of scale. Cash flow dictated. Now we are confident of surviving at least another year we have decided to order a decent quantity - perhaps a years worth - to get the price down a bit. That's clever we thought to ourselves. Then our top printer - in Ireland - phoned to ask how we would like the pallet delivered. PALLET. "Can't you just pop them in the post". "They are to big for the postbox" came the reply. The price of success. I wonder how Becks get their labels.

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What's Your Address 
Monday, November 26, 2007, 02:27 PM
We have finally got approval from the relevant bodies for our label. Behind the simple sentence lies a laugh or two. The main one being that food and drink labels have to have the address of the manufacturer or seller. The council thought we should have our full address: Isle of Colonsay Brewing Company Ltd
The Brewery
Dunorin
Scalasaig
Isle of Colonsay
Argyll
PA 61 7YZ

We thought it would not leave much room for anything else on our labels and resisted. Well the man from the council chucked a letter into the post address to Colonsay Brewery. That's it. Nice and simple. Save ink better for the environment. It got here. We replied. The label address remains unchanged. (What the council did not know is the deputy postie is also our MD so he knew where the brewery is on two counts)

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