North West Region Young Professionals Event – Trip to Cains Brewery, February 8th 2008

The first event in the 2008 North West YP calendar saw a trip to Cains Brewery in Liverpool. Originally advertised as a social networking event, the trip also gave the participants a chance to see first hand some of the logistical issues connected with breweries.

Cains is Liverpool’s only brewery and has a long history. For over 70 years, Higsons had control of the brewery, but in 2002 when it looked like Cains was about to brew its last pint, it was rescued by two brothers from Birmingham, Ajmail and Sudarghara Dusanj, with a little help from the real ale campaign society, CAMRA. But seven years on, the brewery is now as strong as its ever been, with a turnover in excess of £70m. It is also proud to be the official beer of Liverpool’s 2008 Capital of Culture year.

Cains doesn’t just brew its own beers, many of which were sampled by those who attended (!) They also can beers for many other brewers including Guinness as well as many leading supermarkets. Don Danks, Transport & Warehousing Manager, told the group of how they have greatly improved efficiency by reducing empty-running by backloading on every route. Also by making the most of their own-account operator’s licence, Cains have demonstrated how transport and logistics functions are a vital part of improving the efficiency of a business. One delegate described that they learnt about the process for transportation of goods to/from the brewery from goods-in, to delivery, to point-of-sale including the method the company used to ensure maximum backloading, and also that hops smells like poo and that fish guts were once used to make beer look shiny.

The canning plant was one of the most impressive parts of the tour - Cains are able to can up to 7,000 cans per hour. We were taken aback when we were told that there was also an ability to can baked beans, at which point we became a little concerned about what the free samples in the Brewery Tap pub would be! Nineteen YPs attended (plus one ‘honorary’ YP) and came back to the Brewery Tap pub to sample the wide range of beers available, however it came as no surprise that the student contingent kept the evening going until the early hours, sampling the Liverpool culture by visiting many similar establishments in the City.

It was somewhat of a relief that the feedback received at the time was excellent, after all it would not have been very good if the new North West YP Rep was unable to ‘organise the proverbial in a brewery’! Of course, the event was only a success due to our very kind sponsor, Alexium Consulting. We also need to show our appreciation to all those who attended. Many suggestions were made about future events, something that all YP Reps need to hear about!

For more information about YP events, or if you want to become more involved in the Forum, please email ypf.contact@ciltuk.org.uk, log on to eDiscussion or join the new YP group on Facebook.