Nairn-based WooHa to launch lighter shade of pale ale

Heather McDonald is two launch two new craft beers at ale fayre this month. Picture: Wooha

Nairn-based WooHa, owned by head brewer and former microbiologist Heather McDonald, is to launch two fresh tipples at a craft beer festival in Inverness later this month.

McDonald says: “I have always had a passion for craft beer and after studying microbiology I saw an opportunity to use my skills and knowledge of the market to create a unique, modern craft beer product.”

Having brought its first two brews to market in April and taken part in Aldi’s recent Scottish beer showcase, WooHa is planning to unveil an IPA and wheat beer at the North Hop event, which kicks off at Eden Court on 21 August.

“North Hop has a great reputation in the Inverness and surrounding area and will allow us to connect with our customers in a new way, being face-to-face allowing us to give them an insight into the brewery,” McDonald adds.

Simpson never all at sea

ELECTRONICS and water don’t usually make for jolly shipmates, but a recent voyage to the Outer Hebrides showed a crew of young Scots how the internet of things (IoT) can help on the high seas.

Stuart Simpson, a senior engineer at Censis, the Scottish innovation centre for sensors and imaging systems, skippered the Alba Explorer on a six-day voyage for the Outer Hebrides with the Ocean Youth Trust Scotland.

The sail training vessel was armed with a sensor, designed by Simpson, to communicate with a website that allowed those back on dry land to keep track of the ship’s roll and pitch angle and co-ordinates, as well as the air pressure and temperature.

Simpson says: “In a small way, the technology we’ve used on the ship helps prove the wider IoT concept - through the use of sensors to detect and pick up data, communicating this wirelessly and transmitting it to a cloud-based system.

“It was a great experience for everyone involved, even if we had to batten down the hatches because of the weather. But, with our purpose-built sensor and website, there was no chance of us going adrift.”

All aboard the Skypark

INVITATIONS to office openings are two a penny but one arrived last week that caught the Business Desk’s attention.

Besides being sent in physical form on bright green paper, the launch of Skypark 5 in Glasgow’s Finnieston area later this month promises a little more than the usual ribbon cutting and canapes.

Sure, there is the offer of a tour of the refurbished office accommodation, drinks reception and presentation, but we were not expecting the accompanying music festival, funfair, craft beer tent, cocktail bar, street food and market stalls.

Which makes it sound like an event not to be missed. The sponsored abseil involving a descent from Skypark’s tallest building sounds a little less appealing though.

Deloitte’s charity treble

The guys and girls at accounting heavyweight Deloitte have certainly been busy in their spare time, raising a heady £1 million for three charities as part of the firm’s annual charity challenge.

More than 200 staff, including 25 partners, took part in four challenges across four continents in June and July, raising the money for Deloitte’s charity partners, Alzheimer’s Society, Mind and Prostate Cancer UK.

Three folk from the firm’s Edinburgh office took part – Mike Ret, Neil Rankin and Mark Burrows – climbing an active volcano in Ecuador, called Cotopaxi, to help raise part of the cash. Which surely beats ascending the rather less challenging and extremely dormant Arthur’s Seat.

Ret provides an insight into his adventures via a blog, which is definitely worth a visit: http://blogs.deloitte.co.uk/scotland/2015/08/theres-no-quitting-in-quito.html