Meet the Culture Starters - Paisley Drinks Co.
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We recently met up with Brian O'Shea the man behind Paisley Drinks Co to discuss how his journey has been.
When and why did you start your business?
We launched our first drinks in December 2018 after several months planning, the same month my son Oban was born, through 2018 it was a running joke in our house about which would arrive first! I’d worked as buyer for a supermarket chain and had been lucky enough to work with a lot of great Scottish suppliers in my role and always had ambition to be the captain of my own ship one day, and who doesn’t love fizzy drinks! So Paisley Drinks was born based on using local fruit to make cool and interesting flavour combinations, using clean natural ingredients.
How was starting out?
One word rollercoaster! In 2019 I had a full-time job running alongside PDC, in the first year most of our sales were from farmers markets and events on weekend and then we started to gain traction in a lot of independent retailers and coffee shops. Then COVID and everything stopped I was able to focus on growing the e-commerce side of the business. Which gave us a real insight into who our customers where and helped us through this tough trade period.
What has your business journey been like?
In my time before PDC I’ve had a great experience of working in retail for 20 years and it was always part of a big team and there is always someone to help. Starting your own business as been a huge learning for me personally. You learn you need to be adaptably, as you never know what round the corner! COVID, Co2 shortages, energy pricing!
There’s a huge sense of achievement from starting something from scratch and seeing it to where it is today in our 5th year.
What does the future hold for you?
Recently we came to an agreement for Paisley Drinks Co Brand to become part of the Williams Brothers (Brewery) who are celebrating their 30th year, this is a real exciting time for me, which gives us a solid platform to grow from. You can expect to see lot of exciting new flavours in the coming months.
Come in store to enjoy our range of Paisley Drinks Co. and keep an eye open for future flavours.