To me entrepreneurship is where the left and right sides of the brain meet to bring something new, creative and hopefully fundamentally better to the world. I think it has to be experienced first-hand (or rather endured!) to fully appreciate how all-encompassing it can be.
The entrepreneur has the beautiful privilege of starting with a blank canvas uninhibited by the decisions of the past. They get to blend innovation, creativity, risk, relentless work ethic and a fresh execution together in a way other business participants cannot. It contrasts sharply with established business leaders who must act in a much more measured way as responsible custodians of their organisations and who have so many existing stakeholders to consider as they adapt to change.
I have been fortunate to enjoy a successful entrepreneurial journey to date but absolutely no moment can be taken for granted. It requires huge drive, determination, and self-belief in the face of ever evolving conditions. By its very nature most entrepreneurs are themselves disrupters wrestling with rapidly evolving markets which makes it a very intense life… and for many success is fleeting, limited or simply does not come.
I was particularly lucky to have firstly a cofounder Darren Fenton who has very different skills to me and over the years we’ve been joined on the journey by a number of other founders who collectively keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive in our business as we continue to evolve.

To bring good people on the journey with you. No business can be bound together forever by share force of personality!
The ‘startup’ journey is exciting for many at first but inevitably all successful startups must eventually evolve into more conventional corporate structure whilst trying to retain the very things that set them apart in the beginning. For this reason, we made it an early priority to develop in-house HR and events resources and to try and retain a high degree of trust, decentralisation and autonomy across the business.
At Bevcraft we have worked very hard to not just retain each team member but to actively evolve and grow roles aligned with people’s individual strengths within the organisation. In the nine years since we started, we have scaled to a team of 60 people operating across seven countries. Within this global team all our original hires are still with the business but in very different roles to where they started and the majority of people hired along the way are still with us today. I think that is testament to the culture we’ve built over the years.

A decade ago, the craft beverage sector was still comparatively new in Europe and the industry was very much ‘glass bottle led’. The shift to aluminium beverage cans – which are infinitely recyclable and particularly well suited to craft drinks - was only just starting.
The businesses that today make up Bevcraft include the 1st, 2nd and 3rd longest established mobile canning businesses in Europe, the 1st commercial digital can printing plant in Europe and countless other innovations that have truly helped support the evolution and maturing of this market. We have supported over 1,000 craft beverage businesses across Europe and North America in their own evolution. Our vision has and always will be to support a vibrant and sustainable independent beverage sector which in turn can deliver more consumer choice, quality, provenience and innovation to the end consumer.

Always think for yourself from first principles. i.e. actually stop and think free of bias.
This has probably never been more important than it is today. I think AI models and algorithms have and will continue to create significant value in business – but ultimately it is the ability to ideate from scratch and to make nuanced decisions with data not easily digitised or weighted that will continue to underpin human value. Nowhere is that more relevant that in entrepreneurial endeavours.
I spend a lot of my free time going on long solo walks or hikes during the evenings or weekends without earphones just to think. Free of bias. Free of specific direction. I find it invaluable.

Although finance is a key ingredient in scaling SMEs it is rarely the only barrier to growth. Across 2021-2023 we featured x3 times in the FT1000 Fastest Growing Companies in Europe list as we rapidly internationalised our business across Ireland, UK, Benelux and the Nordics; however, it is clear to us that the growth model and organisational infrastructure that have taken us this far must now evolve to deliver the next chapter of growth.
The ELITE network and particularly the ELITE Programme of Workshops & Events has been an excellent opportunity to prepare for this. It has allowed us to benchmark our ambition and growth roadmap with peers who are at comparable development stages and in particular to identify likely hurdles to further growth and to openly understand how other successful business leaders tackle similar barriers.
All businesses have internal experts (who are bias) and external consultants (who have an incentive structure) – what we as business leaders & entrepreneurs often lack however is a network of genuinely independent experts who will take the time to understand the business and to challenge and call out emerging orthodoxies head on. ELITE delivers that.