Civvy Life – Alex McDivitt

Off By Ed Hanna

Alex Served as an Infantry Soldier in the Royal Fusiliers for 22 years before leaving with the rank of Warrant Officer. He set up Veterans Brewing with business partner and fellow Veteran, Tommy Watt.

How was resettlement?

My time was up, I’d Served my 22 years. I requested that my last two years be in Glasgow and I used that as a stepping stone. I was with regimental recruitment so I did a bit of networking with local businesses so that when I left I could pick up a job with one of them.

How did Veterans Brewing come about?

Tommy Watt and I founded it. I’d previously done charity work for Cash for Kids, Make A-Wish Foundation, Riding for the Disabled Association and other local charities when I had my property business. Tommy is a brewer who’s also ex-Military. We decided to put our heads together and do something with a charitable aspect which is also a business, so we set up Veterans Brewing. We launched full time last year. We’ve got our own brewing plant now but before that we were testing the water and marketing. And now we’ve got our first franchise down in Sussex.

What Military experiences and skills do your draw upon in your work?

I work in sales. That’s my field. I had my own property business before. Having been in the Army, I’ve done all my courses on how to coach and how to motivate. For any Military person sales should be quite easy. It’s just about building up their confidence in that field and they can go for it.

You’re passionate about helping Service leavers…

We have 3,000 square feet in Coatbridge and three employees, all Veterans. Our ethos is to create employment for Veterans and support Veterans’ charities. The product supports the Veterans and the Veteran supports the product, by selling it. We are currently sourcing Veterans around the UK to
train as ambassadors within Veterans Brewing, landlords to support the products and investors to support the business as a whole or locally, within the franchise system, to support their local Veterans’ ambassador.

What advice would you offer to current Service-leavers?

Everything’s available to them, such as financial support, so they should use it. However long you’ve got for your resettlement courses, take it! They know that they’re getting out and they need to start researching about what they
want to do. Somebody at the 18-year point looking towards their 22 years has four years to readjust from the Military. Get trained up and make it easier for the employers.

To me, it’s just Military tactics. It’s a battle: do your research, get your information – which is your ammunition – and then go and fight for what you want. If anybody’s interested in Veterans Brewing, contact us. Even if it’s just for business advice, I’m happy to help anybody. We’re Veterans, so if we can’t do that, there’s something wrong! Any investors or any other Veterans can contact us about getting involved.

More:

Tel: 01236 425281
E: info@veteransbrewing.uk
www.veteransbrewing.uk