Devitera Microbrewery
Welcome brewers to the latest Brewery in the Spotlight Interview! For this spotlight, we have been given the opportunity to speak to Glen Upward, the founder and one-man team for this small start-up microbrewery after a career in IT and digital marketing.
Glen says that “At the end of the day, you had nothing to show for your effort, and I wanted to change that with my new venture”.
Glen’s Story
Glen’s journey has been complex from the get-go with two business names, two premises and two business structures (all in a year)! Devitera means ‘boundary lands’ in latin and is the product of a potential legal battle on the original business name (and 200 test names) which Glen produced.
Glen’s story begins with what may seem to be an unfortunate turn of events for some people…not for Glen it wasn’t!
“One day, my bosses’ boss’ boss flew in for the day from America and told everyone that they were fired. I had an itch to do something different and now I had the opportunity to make it happen. It was now or never”!
It turns out that this was the perfect push in the right direction for Glen. Going from a career in IT and digital marketing to owning and running your own microbrewery is quite a jump, but Glen has had the motivation and determination to see it through.
Inspirations and Aspirations
Glen states that he gains his inspiration from everywhere and everything! “I’m probably more in the world now running my own business than when I was a corporate clone.”
When asked where he sees himself and his brewery in 10 year’s time, he said that his aspiration is for a brand that is “well known in the UK and abroad. A chain of brew-pubs creating amazing beer. One step at a time😊”! With the range of delicious beers currently available, we think that Glen is definitely on his way to this already!
Devitera make hand-made and vegan friendly bottled beer, each brew being experimental with a variety of different styles available. In the words of Glen Upward, “From grain to beer in a labelled bottle is about 20 yards”!
We asked Glen what is the best piece of advice he could give to someone just starting up and this is what he said:
“Believe in your dream and yourself. Hold on to that belief as it will be tested time, and time, and time again. Those that give up didn’t believe”!
We think that is excellent advice – never give up on your dreams to all the potential brewers out there! Glen goes more into detail with this on the Devitera website.
Something which we are always interested in finding out is a brewer’s choice of poison and where they would have it… or in simpler terms, if you could drink any beer in any country, which one would it be and where would you go.
“A mega tough question…like asking which your favourite child is! These are so many fabulous beers, so I will pick the place and then match a beer instead. I pick a warm hazy summer’s day in Romania drinking a chilled pint of kegged Shipyard”. Excellent choice!
Time to round this up!
We had an absolutely lovely time speaking to Glen from Devitera – we only wish that we had more time! But before we left, we had one last question. Why did you choose Brewcover for your microbrewery insurance?
“First of all, the cost. As a start-up, Brewcover wins hands-down – the right level of cover at the right price. Plus, I had heard of the brand before. Finally, the people. Louise Twist [Brewcover’s Development Executive] has made it extremely easy to navigate through my insurance cover requirements. Easy to become a customer, easy to maintain the insurance, nice to work with”!
We would like to say a big thank you to Glen for taking part in our first ever Spotlight on the Brewery – it has been a pleasure getting to know him more. You can check out his website to view his full range of craft beer and where to buy them!
If your interest has been perked by what Glen has said and you want to find out more about Brewcover, then you can get in touch with us via our enquiry form or you can get a quote!
