It’s a dilemma many professional sportsmen and women face after pension – especially pressured retirement – what to do next to earn a crust. Regardless of fierce competition on the market, two previous Saracens rugby players Alistair Hargreaves, 32, and Chris Wyles, 35, created a microbrewery business after determining a gap on the market of art lager. I proceeded to go earlier into pension I started doing work for an agency instead and got sucked into the whole corporate and business world. The previous Saracens captain was pressured to retire on medical grounds at the ultimate end of 2016, aged just 30, after sustaining do it again concussions.
During his profession near the top of the overall game, he gained four international caps for South Africa and captained Sarries to the Premiership title in the 2014-15 season. In 254 performances for Saracens, American born Chris – Alistair’s Wolfpack co-founder – helped the London-based golf club win four Aviva Premiership game titles and two European Rugby Champions Cups. Wolfpack was named after the Saracens team nickname, but Alistair relays that it now means a lot more than that. The pair were at least in a position to draw on some experience when it came to launching their craft beer business.
After retiring from rugby, Alistair initially took a job in a top advertising agency promoting multiple beers from Budweiser to Stella Artois. But Chris persuaded him out of it, stating that he was working hard selling someone else’s beer – and with the pending retirement, coaxed him into setting up Wolfpack Lager with him. The duo at first started the business using their own capital, a yr later they contacted Saracens owner Nigel Wray but, who is worth a £315million. He decided to back the business as a minority shareholder.
- How you will follow regulatory restrictions and the impact of conformity on your business
- Executive Success: Servant leadership, management skills, and
- How the process means that new hazards are not created by any
- Robust Reporting section to keep an eye on daily transactions
- Specification of investment objectives and constraints
Alistair refuses to divulge further information on the investment but added that the pair were subjected to their paces pitching the business to Wray and discovered a thing or two about crunching the figures to make a compelling story. Wolfpack is not the only business that Wray has supported from rugby players. Last month, Sportsmail uncovered that the multi-millionaire property business owner also has businesses with England captain Owen Farrell, Billy, and Mako Vunipola and Richard Wigglesworth – and has co-owned homes with former Saracens players also.
For where we were in the trip when we needed to raise money we wanted somebody we could trust and study from. A buyer was desired by us that we could leverage and use their experience. Alistair stresses that much hard work went into creating the business and brand. We’ve ideals that we learnt from sport and community. Whoever you are -sportsman or woman you will be part of the Wolfpack.
Alistair Hargreaves – Wolfpack was founded in 2014 following the pro-athletes researched the craft beverage industry, immersing themselves through microbrewery trips, reading books on beer theory and styles and making techniques. The pair tried beers from all over the global world from IPAs to stouts, and sours, Weissbier to porters, but realized having less lager – the traditional enemy of ale – offerings from microbrewers was slim.
From this Wolfpack was created and now their lager and pilsner are poured in 250 pubs around the country, boasting a £1million turnover with a team of 12 doing work for the business. He adds that they didn’t initially start by thinking about the bigger picture or developing a masterplan. He says: ‘We literally said we’re rugby players and life after rugby is coming quickly and we need to choose a business that can provide us with a purpose after the game and make us attractive to other businesses. They’re also not precious about carrying it out all by themselves.