Edinburgh-based brewery Vault City Brewing has adopted a four-day work week, becoming the first business of its kind in the UK to do so.
The brewer made the change as part of its pledge to adopt a healthier and more balanced working culture.
Vault City Brewing is popular for its contemporary and innovative sour beers flavours, such as Iron Brew, Cloudy Lemonade and Rhubarb and Custard.
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The company's 13 workers will now work Monday through to Thursday from 8am to 5.30pm, as reported by insider.co.uk.
This will reduce the number of hours in the working week from 40 to 35.
The changes were introduced in a phased manner over an eight-month period, starting in April 2021.
Vault City co-founder Steven Smith Hay had reportedly been considering making the change ever since he started the company in 2018.
He previously had a corporate career that included roles at BT and TSG.
Although the implementation of a four-day work week presented major challenges for the commercial brewer — due to its unpredictable production schedule — Hay stated that it was important for his employees to enjoy a healthier balance between work and life.
Smith Hay, began brewing beers in his Murrayfield kitchen in 2018, said: “It’s been fun to watch the fanbase grow. It’s all part of the sour beer revolution – and we’re delighted to be at the vanguard.
“Scaling up something that started small is challenging at the best of times, but committing to a four-day work week when you’ve more than tripled in size, and opened a bar could seem like an impossible stretch. However, we believe work-life balance is a big part of our culture, and something worth striving for.
“A four-day working week is completely unheard of in the brewing world, an industry which has developed a reputation for long hours and hard graft. To be honest, that was part of my motivation – to create a different way of working. It hasn’t come without its challenges, though."
Vault City’s Brewing’s sales coordinator Charlotte Brooke said: “The work and life balance it affords me allows me to enjoy my time to the fullest and arrange long-weekends away without needing to take time off. I feel less tired, more mentally and emotionally well rested and generally just better. I don’t think I can go back to a five-day week now.”
A trial of a four-day week without pay reduction is set to take place in Scotland, with 30 businesses already signing up to a trial in England and Wales set to begin later this year.
The pilot programme was announced in January and was launched by four Day Week Global in partnership with think tank Autonomy, the four Day Week UK Campaign and researchers at Cambridge University, Oxford University and Boston College.
Turnover at Vault City Brewing has risen by 175% in the past 12 months, with the brewery’s output increasing to around 250,000 litres of beer each year.
Vault City puts the success down to a spike in direct consumer demand during the pandemic, and new contracts with Tesco.
