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Hilary
Jones, a former brewer for Newcastle Brown Ale, Fosters, Kronenbourg
and McEwan's, has invested in a minority shareholding in WEST, the
Glasgow Green based independent brewery.
Jones first came across WEST last
year when, in her role as President of the European Brewery
Convention (EBC), she visited the brewery, fell in love with it and
its lagers and was immediately convinced of its tremendous growth potential.
WEST's MD Petra Wetzel said, "I
am absolutely delighted that Hilary has become a shareholder in
WEST. She has a real passion for the brewery and, given her extensive
experience and network within the brewing industry, is a tremendous
asset. And I'm sure that, with Hilary on board, WEST is now the only
brewery in the world with two women at its helm!"
Hilary Jones said, "I'm
very much looking forward to working with Petra at WEST. Between us
we have some great ideas and enthusiasm for progressing this exciting
young company. I'm sure that, together, Petra and I will make a
formidable team!"
Before joining WEST, Hilary was
Technical and Quality director for Scottish & Newcastle prior to
its takeover by Heineken and Carlsberg. A graduate from Edinburgh
University with a BSc Honours in Biological Sciences, she first
joined S&N as custodian of its precious brewing yeast strains.
In an extensive and varied career
with the formerly Edinburgh-based company her responsibilities
included leading the quality agenda across seven European countries,
new product development; setting up a pub brewery and managing the
famous Tyne Brewery in Newcastle and the Theakstons brewery in Yorkshire.
She has served on the boards of
both Brewing Research International near London and the International
Centre for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University in
Edinburgh. In 1995 she was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of
Brewing in recognition of her work for the brewing industry.
In 2005 she became the first ever
woman President of the European Brewery Convention. Just before
retiring as President she secured Glasgow as the next host city for
the prestigious EBC Congress to be held in 2011, an event that
attracts brewers from all over the world.
WEST brews the only lagers and
wheat beers in the UK to meet the Reinheitsgebot of 1516 (the German
Purity Law; the oldest food law in the world which ensures only the
finest, purest beer is deemed fit for consumption).
WEST recently won three gold
medals from the DLG, the prestigious Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft
(German Agricultural Society) - the first time that any lager brewed
in the UK received a medal from the DLG.
WEST won gold for its St. Mungo
lager, it's homage to Glasgow's patron saint and fellow brewer St
Mungo, a second gold for its Hefeweizen, a wheat beer which rivals
the great wheat beers in Europe, and a third gold for its Dunkel, its
speciality dark lager, which the DLG assessor described as 'simply outstanding'.
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