Latest news with #AlexHarrison
Scotsman
26-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Edinburgh firm's ‘vodka pouches' hit shelves at more than 175 Scottish convenience stores
'Young Spirits is a fantastic example of a company using its industry knowledge to create something fresh and exciting for the market' Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... An Edinburgh-based spirits bottling and branding business is seeing its diversification into the multi-million-pound 'ready to drink' market take a significant step forward. Young Spirits, founded in 2019 by John Ferguson and Alex Harrison, has undergone a major programme of growth in the last five years. It now employs a 40-plus team and has expanded its remit, developing its own portfolio of products and tapping into the growing trend for convenience drinks. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The firm's most recent endeavour, Nips & Sips, a range of single-serve vodka pouches, saw off competition from more established brands to win an exclusive listing with convenience retailer Scotmid, across an estate of more than 175 stores. Scotmid's Steven Addison with Young Spirits' co-founder Alex Harrison. The idea for the new range came from the Young Spirits founders, who are said to have spotted a gap in the market for an innovative, ready-to-drink spirits product that was more convenient than the traditional bottle or can format. Young Spirits also takes a sustainable approach to its operations and has established a carbon neutral bottling site as well as ensuring its vodka pouches are fully recyclable. Co-founder Ferguson said: 'Young Spirits was founded as a modern, sustainable partner to companies in the spirits sector, offering next level support for a wide range of new product development and bottling projects. Alongside that, we are using our expertise to develop our own portfolio of spirits brands, to bring innovation and great products to today's consumers. Nips & Sips is a perfect example.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Steven Addison, local sourcing manager at Edinburgh-headquartered Scotmid, added: 'Nips & Sips stood out in our Scottish Favourites competition for its fun approach to convenience and innovation. The competition is all about championing Scotland's most exciting or up-and-coming food and drink brands, helping them take the next critical step in their journey.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Rugby fan aims to tackle the 'man up' culture
What does a man struggling with his mental health look like?With his imposing build, tattoos across both arms and passion for martial arts and rugby, Alex Harrison might not seem the most obvious candidate to Alex has been through dark times in his life and at his lowest, reached out to a charity that focuses on male-dominated spaces to promote conversations around mental health and remove the toxic stigma of the "man up" the Tough Enough to Care charity's chief development officer, he is urging men to talk about their mental health, telling the BBC: "I was [told to man up] and I kind of did it because that's how life was." Alex, originally from Wirksworth, Derbyshire, left school with no qualifications but started working in heavy industry in quarrying and mineral did well and became works director at one company but while his career thrived, he was secretly battling poor mental health along the way. "You just bottle it up and I had some unhealthy coping mechanisms," he told the struggle continued until his late 30s and early 40s - and when his coping mechanisms did not work anymore, he said he attempted to take my own life. "There was all sorts of strange things happening - lots of noise and dark thoughts and you just put it down to being tired, overworking or family pressures, finances, there's always an excuse," he said."It never once occurred to me this was a mental health illness... there's always something going on you can throw in the mix to try and deviate from what's actually going on... I lived like this for a very long time... no-one ever spoke about it."I was [told to man up] and I kind of did it because that's how life was. "But it does mask what's going on because you do put a front on it and you hide it... even now I'll still get people that I've known for a long time that didn't know what I was going through." The father-of-three said he joined the charity during an intensely dark period in his life, not long after the organisation was set up by RAF veteran Stu Bratt. Mr Bratt started the charity after two of his friends took their own lives in the space of four days of each other."He soon realised they were anything but weak and selfish and he looked into it and realised that it's us, that we hid this behind the man up culture and used the stigma as an excuse not to share how we were talking about," Alex said."I saw his message and I reached out, Stu supported me through my journey."He decided to give back to the charity and volunteered for more than three years before being invited to go full-time with organisation aims to promote positive conversations around mental health, focusing on male-dominated spaces. Asked what advice he'd give to anyone going through a tough time, Alex said: "Talking is my go-to, talk to a friend, a family member, even your employer."They do care, they will look after you but be honest with yourself and do what you can achieve. "It's an illness that you're living with, it's not a weakness... if you need time to recover from a physical injury, you need time for your mind to cover." If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, support is available via the BBC Action Line.
