Two University of the West of Scotland (UWS) graduates are about to celebrate one year as Managing Directors at Isle of Cumbrae Distillers after packing their bags and moving to Millport, following a chance meeting.

We caught up with married couple Caroline Christie and Struan Fraser, both UWS alumni, who became Managing Directors of the Distillery in April 2024, to tell us more about their journey and plans for the future.

How did you become Managing Directors of Isle of Cumbrae Distillers?

The distillery was founded by five ladies who came out of retirement to create the distillery, and they had a five-year plan to go back into retirement once the five years were up.

We bumped into Juli – one of the founding ladies – in Largs when she was promoting the distillery. I fell in love with the story and romance of it all and we were talking to her about our experience in the spirits industry, careers etc. when she invited us for a tour of the Distillery.

We went over and she sat us down afterwards and asked if we wanted to run a gin Distillery on the Isle of Cumbrae and before you knew it, we had packed our bags and started our life in Millport!

What is Isle of Cumbrae Distillers and what products do you make?

Isle of Cumbrae Distillers is a quaint shop and Distillery located in the town of Millport on the Isle of Cumbrae. We make small batch hand crafted gin onsite using our 100 litre still and all gin production is done onsite by Struan, myself and our small team.

We currently have 4 core gins, with plans for more on the way and have introduced whisky into Isle of Cumbrae Distillers from our previous whisky experience.

Our gin Maura won a Silver award for the ‘Best London Dry Gin of the Year’ at the Scottish Gin Awards. Other accolades include: awards at the International wine and spirits competition; Global Gin Masters and London Spirits Awards; as well as Trip Advisors Travellers choice award for a couple of years in a row, this makes us in the top 10% of things to do in THE WORLD!

Tell us about your time at UWS

Caroline – I attended UWS twice, once as a teen and as a mature student. I grew up in Cumnock, a small town in the East of Ayrshire, and my career advisor mentioned UWS and an opening on an events management course in Paisley. This seemed terrifying and so far away but I applied anyway and loved every minute of my degree.

The modules were interesting and engaging and I went on to have a career in events. I became an event coordinator and supervisor for various hotels and venues around Glasgow. I then worked within the Whisky industry… then lockdown hit, redundancies happened, and I decided I’d like to learn more about psychology. I’ve always been fascinated by the subject and thought, I’m going to go for it, lockdown has been tough on so many people, so let’s take this chance. I applied and got in, taking Struan with me…

Struan – I’ve attended university both as a teen/young adult, as well as being more mature (compared to the first time round). UWS is a place which offered a variety of courses and locations to study, though during my time here it was during Covid so we were all doing our best to learn online. Despite having the entire year spent on Teams, I feel the lecturers couldn’t have done a better job of adapting to such strange times.

University is something that challenges you, helps you grow and really makes you expand your stretch zone, whether that’s speaking up in class, or learning about something completely new… statistics certainly aren’t my thing but somehow I made it through the MSc dissertation with my sanity intact.

The time spent at UWS really helped me grow in confidence and refine skills which have helped me in my working life. I didn’t pursue a career in psychology, but it is a course which opens up all kinds of avenues and allows you to see direction which you couldn’t before.

Tell us about your experiences since leaving the University

Caroline – after completing my Master’s I further studied counselling skills and worked for a counselling organisation. Big life events happened and I choose to side step into the spirits industry where both subjects of my degree came in very handy in cask sales.

Struan – gaining an MSc in Psychology at UWS opened up all kinds of avenues in both my working life and just opening up my mind in general. After gaining the MSc I went back to the working world in sales roles in new and exciting industries and now run a gin distillery. If I didn’t have my mind opened to see the world in UHD then I’m not sure I would be on my current trajectory.

What plans do you have for the business?

Oh, we can’t reveal too much 😉 Keep an eye on our social media and newsletters for business plans, new products etc.

Our immediate plans are to work with people in the local community and local charities, though we do plan to get our product out there into a more national marketplace.

Any events planned for this year and how do we find out more about Isle of Cumbrae Distillers?

We have tours on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the summer and tastings available every day at the Distillery.

We have a partnership with the Waverley and quite often go on board to do tastings. We also have an upcoming partnership with a local Ayrshire charity, which will be announced in April.

We are currently still finalising our event calendar for this year, so far we will be attending Geraldo’s in Largs to do a tasting on April 19^th and attending the Ballantrae Food and Drinks Festival in August.

If you could offer one piece of advice or top tip to recent graduates, what would it be?

Caroline – If you have a dream job / life that you desire, don’t put it off, don’t wait till the perfect time…NOW is the perfect time.

Struan – When opportunity presents itself, grab it with both hands and see where it takes you… also do your best to be mindful and be in the moment. It is a hard thing to do these days to be mindful, but it is a very powerful skill to keep calm and level headed amongst the noise of the world in 2025 and beyond.

What drives you on

Caroline – Struan and I motivate each other very well and work great together. I am also fortunate enough to have amazing friends in my life that empower and help keep motivation.

Struan – Working with my wife is very motivating. I mean that in the best way possible. We are both passionate about what we do not only in our working life but in our free time as well, often having these explosions of ideas which gets us really excited about what’s coming next.

Find out more at https://isleofcumbrae-distillers.com/