Since 1870 we’ve lived and breathed malting. With this passion and expertise, and by combining traditional and modern techniques, we create an impressive range of malted and non-malted products, including several unique and exclusive barley malts.
There is nothing more we love than talking to brewers and distillers so if you have any questions, or would like to arrange a call with a member of our team, please feel free to get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
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Just a few minutes of conversation with him allows you to discover just how much his life is dominated by fixing things.
As the site’s engineer, Arran is responsible for keeping the equipment moving, functioning and safe. When he joined the Portgordon team in February there was a very short hand-over time for getting to know the plant and the operations.
Since then he’s been on a mission to learn every aspect of the process, the machinery, the tools – and of course the malt itself.
The plant here is really cool, and the stores are a treasure trove. I’m working my way round, taking things apart to see how they work. Don’t worry – I do put them back together again! This is the way to make sure that if anything breaks down or fails for some reason, I’ll know how to fix it.
Arran MacDonald
Some people like testing themselves with quizzes. Some like endurance challenges. Arran likes a 3D mechanical mystery to solve.
His background set him up for the job at Crisp Malt. He was a mechanical engineer at the James Jones & Sons sawmill, where his role involved maintaining plant, welding, replacing chains and fixing conveyor belts. Prior to that, he was a multi-skilled engineer at Almacit Engineering which specialises in metal railings and staircases.
My first job, catering in a hotel, might seem less relevant, but working in a kitchen forces you to get your prioritising and timing skills down to a fine art. Those are useful skills to have when you’re mending kit that the production team need in order to get on with their work!
At just 25 years old, Arran owns 14 cars and a number of motorbikes. Six of the cars, dating from 1970 to 1990, are classified as collector items. The others are post 2000. All of them, he bought to take apart, fix and sell.
He strips them right back to their shells, then re-builds them with love and care. So much love and care, it seems he can’t let go of them: the selling bit of ‘fix and sell’ constantly gets overlooked!
Arran always loved exploring how things work, and had plenty of chance to practise as a child, with encouragement from his dad, who is an engineer. Arran has two children. The oldest one, just four, already knows how to pick out a 10ml spanner from the set of tools in the shed. The next generation of Crisp Malt engineers in the making?
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