Name: Andrew Marr
Age: 23
Job title: Graduate brewer
Company & location: Damm UK, Damm Eagle Brewery in Bedford
Education: BSc (Hons) Brewing and Distilling at Heriot-Watt University
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I was never certain but I knew I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk all day.
Why did you decide to go for a career in food & drink? In school I enjoyed the practical side of chemistry and was fascinated by the production and culture of alcoholic beverages, so when I heard about the degree it seemed the perfect next step. From there it was only natural to work in the industry.
“I make an effort to learn as much about different roles as possible to better my personal understanding”
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): Assisting the process lead with organising production from raw material supply, right the way to handing over to packaging. When we cover that much, there’s never a dull moment!
What does a typical day look like for you? No such thing, I’ll normally start the day off joining meetings with the heads of departments. From there it varies day to day.
It can involve meeting with brewery clients to discuss production, general admin and data processing, problem-solving as and when issues arise, planning and carrying out trials, working with the quality department for audits and to ensure the beer is up to standard, ordering raw materials and deliveries, and working with the operators to plan for the coming weeks.
I make an effort to learn as much about different roles as possible to better my personal understanding.
Tell us how you went about applying for your job: At my graduation one of my professors encouraged me to apply to this job. After sending off my CV I flew down for an in-person interview, and a couple weeks later got the call that I’d got the job.
The toughest question I was asked was “how have you dealt with someone that disagreed with you, professionally, in the past?”
What’s the best part about working for a food & drink company? Seeing the beers you make when out with friends and family and being able to say with pride “we make that”.
And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? That we drink a lot, especially on the job. We sample quite a few different types of beer but in terms of “drinking” no more than normal and definitely not on the job.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Make the most of your education, not just the core qualification but any extra opportunities, like site visits. Combined you get a much better idea of the industry, the people and what it has to offer.
Learn to drive, a lot of sites are hard to reach by public transport so being able to get there by car is invaluable. And gain a basic understanding of Excel – so much of what we do relies on spreadsheets, so understanding how they work is crucial.
What’s your ultimate career dream? I’d like to run my own site one day, not necessarily a brewery but definitely producing alcoholic beverages.
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