‘We want to show our commitment to the island community, which is why we decided this was a good time to be involved with the Awards for Excellence.’ Ollie Neale tells me.

He’s the managing director at Okell’s Brewery, which sponsored the ‘Celebrating Local Food and Drink’ category at the recent Awards for Excellence.

It’s not the only thing Okell’s is celebrating. It’s the business’s175th anniversary this year and in commemoration, the brewery has been expanding its brews to both honour its past and adapt to the needs of today’s modern consumer, making the business scalable for the future.

‘We're proud of our heritage and our history, and we are, as a group, working towards a new five-year strategy focused on the local community.

‘Everything we do now is to be a part of the community, and ultimately, to make a difference. As such, the Awards are a key opportunity to support the local food and drink scene and producers.

‘We have an important role to play in the island, in the various sectors and communities we operate in, and we want to show that we are good corporate citizens in amongst that as well!’

With the hospitality sector being hugely effected over the last few years, resulting in many local businesses having to close, Ollie believes it’s important now more than ever to support the local food and drink producers. Okell’s has been doing this through successful collaborations.

‘As a part of the 175 celebrations for Okell’s Brewery, we wanted to use it as an opportunity to collaborate with local suppliers on the Isle of Man.

‘This year alone, we've worked with Davison’s Ice Cream to produce a brew infused ice-cream which has been a great success and we’ve collaborated with Robinson's Fish Market and have recently launched a smoked salmon that has been cured and smoked with our Smoked Porter; our 175th celebration beer.

‘We've also got a Smoked Porter Cheese coming in the next couple of weeks with Isle of Man Creamery, and separately the Steam Packet Company approached us to be part of their menu refresh and have included one of our beers in their pie for the vessels.

‘We also worked with Fire Island to create a chilli sauce, all of which have been brilliant opportunities to not only celebrate our 175 years, but to create a platform for some of these local suppliers to get their names out there a little more.’

A collaborative approach, celebrating each other in the community, is what makes Okell’s Brewery a perfect fit for the Awards for Excellence, which has those three c’s at its heart: ‘Community, collaboration, and celebration’.

‘Not every business is lucky to have such a long backstory like our 175 years, so the Awards for Excellence is great because it gives people a springboard to celebrate their achievements, and an opportunity to get their name out there and get local recognition.’