Business owners in the north-east welcome Brexit and enterprise measures but say the devil is in the detail, writes Deirdre Reynolds When it comes to business, it's long since been held that 'whiskey is risky', and in today's post-Brexit world, Ireland's latest wave of distillers have never been more on the rocks

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It's whiskey a go go for Louth firm despite threat of Brexit
Sally‑Anne Cooney of Boann Distillery with some of the company’s beer offerings. Picture: Arthur Carron
March 3 2018 12:00 AM

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It's whiskey a go go for Louth firm despite threat of Brexit
Independent.ie
Business owners in the north‑east welcome Brexit and enterprise measures but say the devil is in the detail, writes Deirdre Reynolds
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Business owners in the north‑east welcome Brexit and enterprise measures but say the devil is in the detail, writes Deirdre Reynolds
When it comes to business, it's long since been held that 'whiskey is risky', and in today's post‑Brexit world, Ireland's latest wave of distillers have never been more
on the rocks.
A 10,000‑litre copper pot still churns into action at Drogheda's brand new Boann Distillery this summer, with the first batch of the single‑malt Irish whiskey set to
hit shelves by mid‑2021.
With sterling still wobbly amid uncertainty over Britain's impending EU exit, however, the renowned angel's share isn't the only thing posing a threat to profits at
the €20m Platin Road facility, which currently also produces an Irish cream liqueur, craft beer and cider.
"This was always going to be a challenging project," said Sally‑Anne Cooney, director of Boann Distillery. "Up until 2012, there were three distilleries on the island
of Ireland ‑ we're now looking at upwards of 30.
"Definitely, export is a huge focus for us. It's a 10,000 pot still with a capability of laying down in and around 2,000 barrels a year, so we have high expectations
for our volume.
"The Irish whiskey market at the moment is growing really well. It's the fastest growing spirit in the world, so we're very bullish about our export potential in the
UK.
"Obviously, with the uncertainty around Brexit, it makes it very, very hard to plan for the fallout, and there's very little clarity from the Government ‑ or from
anywhere, really ‑ about where it's actually going to land. For us, it's one of the big challenges of Brexit."
Nestled in the Boyne Valley, the family‑run company ‑ which has 22 staff ‑ is just one of the small and medium enterprises nationwide that could benefit from a
new €300m Brexit loan fund unveiled as part of Project Ireland 2040 last week.

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Under the scheme, businesses with fewer than 500 employees "exposed to the impact of Brexit" will be able to apply for a low‑cost loan from €25,000 up to a
maximum of €1.5m.
Welcoming the initiative, particularly for SMEs in the north‑east, Boann's Cooney continued: "Definitely in our Irish cream liqueur business, it has had a very
specific impact.
"The devaluation of sterling obviously makes [the UK] a less attractive market.
"We're perceived as being more expensive and we have actually lost a contract over the devaluation of sterling, so for us, definitely it already is a problem and,
with the uncertainty and the instability, it's something that we obviously have to keep in mind.
"We need to look into the detail of it, but I think it's something that would have to be considered."
Expansion of the IDA Regional Property Programme and the launch of the second phase of the Regional Enterprise Development Fund this year are just two of the
other proposals in the National Planning Framework aimed at helping businesses here to buffer against Brexit.
However, it is the scheme operated by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), available from March 2018 to March 2020, which could prove key for
those in the Dublin‑Belfast corridor in the coming months and years, according to Louth Local Enterprise Office (LEO).
As well as a competitive interest rate of 4pc or less, loans of less than €500,000 are unsecured and can be repaid over a maximum period of three years.
Louth LEO's head of enterprise Thomas McEvoy said: "Any company that is impacted or anticipates [that it] will be impacted by Brexit should consider the scheme
for a number of reasons. One is there's an incentive on the rate; [another is] there's security being provided externally that doesn't put an SME under as much
pressure to produce security.
"With the downturn in the economy since 2008, a lot of companies have had to retrench and spend less and less on their business to try and make sure that they
can sustain themselves, and what has happened is there hasn't been a very high level of capital spending over the last ten years. This scheme allows those
businesses to play catch‑up in terms of their capitalisation.
"Since June of 2016, we've seen a ten percent devaluation in sterling to rates today. Obviously in a border county, we'd be quite sensitive to the fact that a higher
proportion of small and medium enterprises are more exposed to Brexit than their counterparts further down the country, and that is of concern. We would want
to ensure that every SME, particularly along the border corridor, is aware [of] and familiar with the Brexit Loan Scheme that will be coming out at the end of next
month.
"Particularly with Brexit, what we're trying to do is encourage companies that are reliant on the UK market to look to other markets, and to look to continental
Europe, to look at North America ‑ to look at non‑traditional markets. From a LEO perspective and from an Enterprise Ireland perspective, there are supports to
help companies research and put a toe in the [water] of those new markets."

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At East Coast Bakehouse on the Donore Road, that's exactly how the cookie has crumbled.
Launched just as Britain voted leave the European Union in July 2016, 18 months on the homegrown biscuit brand ‑ which employs 42 people ‑ is found in
supermarkets all the way from the north‑east to the Middle East.
"It certainly wasn't expected," recalled co‑founder Michael Carey. "We hadn't built it into our plans for the investment.
"In our original plan, we had anticipated that we would for the first two or three years of the business do almost all of our exports in the UK, and we have changed
that tack.
"While we continue to do business in the UK, the majority of our exports are going further afield, so we're now trading in nine countries; we are exporting to the
Middle East, to the USA, to Africa.
"We have taken steps that in our original business plan were not due to be taken until probably year four or five. It has thrown up other opportunities, and I think
it makes us a stronger business in the long run."
Praising the Brexit Loan Scheme as "a very positive step", Carey said that, in theory at least, East Coast Bakehouse would also be "keen to participate in it in some
way".
First though, it will have to prove to the SBCI that "15pc of business turnover is exposed to potential negative impacts as a result of Brexit, whether through
imports from the UK, exports to the UK, or a combination of both", among other eligibility criteria.
"We have received good support from Enterprise Ireland from the start," he added. "In terms of a new fund being available, I think it's something that would be
very attractive as an alternative source of funding to help us continue to grow, and I think many other companies will see it as a good opportunity.
"Assuming it is structured in a way that allows companies that are going through this pain of the implication of Brexit to access the funding, [and there aren't] too
many restrictions around what stage a company is at, I think it's a very positive step.
"The devil will be in the detail ‑ to be honest, if it doesn't apply to a business like ours, it's hard to understand why it would be deemed to be a Brexit response
funding initiative."
For more information on Project Ireland 2040 visit the official website

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Drogheda Independent
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