Full spectrum

A year after moving to new premises Spectrum Brewery in Norfolk is thriving while doing its bit for the planet. Dominic Roskrow spoke to the brewery's founder.

Andy Mitchell is a man with a plan. For at the risk of getting all Biblical, when it came to planting the seeds of his new business he made sure that they were well grounded. And now, as the beer industry struggles along with the rest of the economy, he’s reaping the rewards of his thorough and painstaking preparation.

Mitchell owns Spectrum Brewery at Tharston, south of Norwich and close to the Suffolk border, and after six years he has built his brewery into a healthy and respected business. And all because he learned to walk before he was up and running.

An information technology provider in the late ‘90s, he was one of the many who gave up his career to pursue his hobby. But where many have struggled he has prospered through investment in practical and theoretical experience.

“I set up Spectrum six years ago but I’d been working towards it for some time before,” he says. “I spent some time getting knowledge and learning about brewing. I did a degree course in brewing and distilling, odd-jobbed at various local breweries and learnt about the commercial side of the business. There was a lot of hard work.” Spectrum was originally founded from the site of another brewery.

Mitchell took over brewing for the small but respected Norfolk brewery Blue Moon, and for some time he juggled both operations, fitting his production plans around the then better-known microbrewery. But it was the move to Tharston, to the south of Norfolk between Norwich and Diss, which allowed him to r.....

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By Dominic Roskrow

Section : Spotlight

Page number : 38