News / Sonny’s brew helps revitalising Unst community
SATURDAY’S grand opening of Valhalla Brewery’s new premises marks another milestone on the slow road to recovery for the island of Unst.
During the last 16 years the country’s most northerly island was hit twice leading to economic decline and a drop in population numbers from around 1,150 in 1996 to below 600 today.
First, in 1996, the busy oil airport at Baltasound was closed with the loss of 35 qualified jobs.
That was followed by the gradual withdrawal of Royal Air Force personnel from the early warning station at Saxa Vord over a seven year period until 2006, making an already fragile situation even worse.
The remaining community has ever since focussed on revitalising island life by attempting to attract new people and developing new industries.
Tourism was one of the obvious growth areas as Unst boasts many natural highlights such as teeming wildlife, a rich archaeological heritage and that particular feel of being away from it all.
Tourist numbers have steadily grown over recent years, and Sonny Priest’s selection of six distinctive ales, all brewed in a micro brewery bursting at its seams, can claim its fair share in putting Unst on the tourism map.
Sonny started on the unlikely project of building up a brewery business after he was made redundant at Baltasound airport, where he had been working as a fireman.
The idea came about as a joke, while having a pint or two with work colleagues one evening; but it got stuck and Sonny couldn’t let go again.
“It was such a daft idea in such a remote place that everybody said it could not work. Nobody believed that I would ever get it done.
“I would say it is probably the sceptics that kept me going, as I was determined to prove that it could be done,” Sonny said this weekend.
His business started in a shed next to his house and quickly grew in size. When he switched from casts to bottled beer demand shot up, making it a struggle to keep up production.
In 2009 Sonny, with the help of his extended family, started converting the old Motor & Transport (MT) section at the Saxa Vord camp into new premises.
The £103,000 expansion has been made possible with financial help from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and Shetland Islands Council, and includes a new brewery shop and additional staff.
It will also enable the company to potentially double production to around 144,000 litres of beer.
“It has been a massive job to do all this, but at the same time it has given us the opportunity to explore new markets, something we have never done before. We have never looked for markets because the market has always come to us,” he said.
The company now provides two full time and four part-time jobs, and is ready to expand into new markets, initially across the North Sea at Shetland’s Scandinavian neighbours.
Finding these new contacts is Andrea Laurenson’s job. The 21-year old marketing graduate is being employed with the help of Highland and Islands Enterprise to drive the business forward.
With her professional background she is only too aware that her home island needs more than a thriving tourism industry to compensate for the losses of the last 15 years.
“We need more professional jobs and businesses to move up here.
“We rely on tourism. In the summer months specifically there are lots of tourists around. For example her e at the brewery we bus loads up to 50 folk coming for a tour.
“Gift shops are busy, hotels are busy, so there is potential. So we just need people to come up here and realise that the potential exists,” she said.
Sharn Swan is one of those who saw the potential. She and her brother Steven took over the Baltasound Hotel in 2008.
Since then they have invested heavily in refurbishing the three-star hotel, again with the help of HIE, and have seen a steady increase in visitor numbers.
“We have a lot more tours, from Belgium, Germany, and this year one even from America. We also have a lot of tours from local operators such as Shetland Wildlife, yes, definitely, tourism is picking up and the way to go,” Ms Swan said.
Others such as community council chairman Lowrie Robertson, who has been following the ups and downs in Unst’s fate for many years, detects a new vitality in the community but insists that other industries are urgently needed.
He believes the unused aerodrome could become operational again, as the oil industry continues to push the boundaries and might soon need an airport base in the very far north.
Failing that he still thinks the facility is an asset that could be used to attract inward investment.
“We have a fairly vibrant young community of people who are regenerating the island once again. A few years ago, around the year 2000, we had hardly any young people in the islands and we were very worried.
“However, we do need more employment for young people. We would need a reasonably major employer to come in, possibly to exactly where we are standing here at Unst airport. It is a facility that is in good condition and it is ready to go,” he said.
What Unst needs, he added, is a phase of stability with regular and affordable ferry links and no threats from the local authority as to the future of the junior high school in Baltasound.
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