Nick O’Shea
Founder of Ignition, a south London brewery and not for profit which employs and trains people with learning disabilities to brew great beer and showcase their talents and skills.
Learning DisabilitiesNick volunteers at Lewisham Mencap’s Tuesday Club – a disco for 250 people with both learning disabilities and amazing dance moves – where it became obvious to him that club members had potential which was being overlooked by prospective employers. So he created his own company Ignition and employed them himself! Ignition is a vibrant, south London brewery, which employs and trains people with learning disabilities to brew great beer. Nick is an economist and founded the brewery in 2015 as a not for profit organisation with the mission to employ people with learning disabilities and showcase their many talents and undiscovered skills.
The ethos at Ignition is simple. The team have a lot to offer and with the right support and care, they can make beer that competes on the open market and satisfies the thirst of any customer.
Previous talks at Being The Story
More Beer, More Jobs – a Brewery with a Difference
Nick O’Shea is the Founder of Ignition Brewery. Ignition is a vibrant, south London brewery which employs and trains people with learning disabilities to brew great beer.
The ethos at Ignition Brewery is simple: The team have a lot to offer and with the right support and care, they can make beer that competes on the open market and satisfies the thirst of any customer!
The journey to deliver this in practice has been complex: trying to convince the social care sector to support the development of the company, whilst creating beers that can survive in the London Market has been tricky and required more resilience and ‘bloody-mindedness’ than Nick ever thought would be needed.
Nick shared what it takes to have a new idea and implement it. How to maintain composure and hope, whilst resisting a fridge full of beer.
Nick has been supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Ideas and Pioneers Fund. Paul Hamlyn Foundation were a Being the Story Partner