Local spirit drives our distillers to address the hand gel shortages

The owner of AF Consultancy, based at Innovation Factory in Belfast, immediately approached the individual distillery owners across Northern Ireland in order to discuss how they could pivot to meet demand when it became evident there was a global shortage.

“Our distilleries were uniquely placed to adapt production quickly to produce hand sanitiser. Northern Ireland really led the charge to fill this gap, converting production to de-natured alcohol using the World Health Organisations approved recipe,” she said.

Before they could do this, HMRC needed to grant a new approval for each distillery. What normally would be a 45-day process was turned around quickly as Anita was able to guide HMRC through similarities of the information needed and information already held regarding current approvals. As a result, allowing them to shift to the production of this new product with minimal delay.

“Everyone worked together, and we were able to get into the market really fast. I know many of our distilleries gave away upwards of £50,000 of hand sanitiser free, it really was a united effort,” she added.

Her work during the pandemic has led to her being named Belfast Ambassador for the Homecoming 2020 event held recently.

“It’s an amazing honour and I’m very humbled. This is just what I do but I really appreciate the unique role I was able to play. It had been a very difficult time for me personally as both my sister and her partner were very ill with Covid-19 and I lost two cousins to the disease. I was determined to help if I could.”

Based in an office at Innovation Factory, Anita has already taken on a new member of staff in recent months and plans to recruit another in the coming months to meet demand for expert advice to set up new distilleries and help existing businesses develop and grow.

“I love working from this unique building because there are so many opportunities to collaborate with creative, entrepreneurial people and the support that I’ve received from the Innovation Factory team has been invaluable. The one thing we learned during the pandemic is that we shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help and that by working together we are stronger,” she added.

Majella Barkley, Centre Director of Innovation Factory said: “Anita has brought so much to the community here. Her unique experience and connections around the world are an inspiration to the small business community, which is vital to the economy of Northern Ireland.”

As a former HMRC auditor, Anita set up AF Consultancy just three years ago to advise businesses in compliance and she now works with 24 of the 34 distilleries in Ireland. As a consultant she helps distilleries comply with all the rules and regulations in this industry, meeting all the legal and technical requirements to set up and trade successfully. But she explains that she does much more than that, working to help her clients with a range of issues such as sourcing products and services and connecting them to contacts.

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