It was when Jimmy Walsh '99 went back to New Zealand for a visit that he had the idea for Lowrise Brewery. After a few years in the United Kingdom, the amount of low calorie beers back home stood out to him. "In New Zealand, about a quarter of beers were low calorie. For the US, it is 29%. In the UK, that figure was close to none."

Jimmy has experience in the beverage industry. After his last year at Auckland Grammar School in 2003, where he was part of the 1st XI Cricket and rugby league teams, he completed a Bachelor of Business and Marketing at Auckland University of Technology. From there, he spent five years at Coca-Cola and four more at a start-up drink company called Waterbomb, rising to Head of Sales. So, when he spotted the opportunity to fill a gap in the beer market in the UK, he was well-positioned to do so.

In 2023, he assembled a team of Kiwis and founded Lowrise. The group of four - Jimmy, Sam Ellis '99, Tom Delamore and Todd Nicolson - worked to get Lowrise off the ground. Each of them had a different background, from sales to brewing to graphic design. The result is a low calorie beer with, in Jimmy's words, "a bold design and an exceptional taste." Although Lowrise is a UK company, it is Kiwi at heart, using hops from Nelson - "the best in the world" - and with a Number Eight wire attitude.

In just 18 months, Lowrise has seen some significant successes. Both their lager and newly-released hazy pale ale are already available in Waitrose across the UK, in over 170 stores. "Waitrose was excited about our concept and the booming low-calorie beer trend - it's been an amazing partnership!".

Moreover, you can find Lowrise in numerous pubs, with the company recently partnering with Brewhouse & Kitchen to have their beer on tap in all 22 sites. Additionally, "Lowrise is in advanced negotiations with multiple major retailers and is on track for nationwide expansion this year."

Founding a brewery has not been without its challenges. Inflation has been particularly tricky, with the rising costs of ingredients and logistics squeezing margins. "It's been hard because people don't have a lot of cash in their pockets at the moment. So, even as our costs increase, we don't have the room to increase our prices to retailers." Nonetheless, Lowrise is up for the challenge.

As an upstart brand, it is difficult to break into pub groups as larger breweries generally monopolise the taps. Especially with pubs closing around the UK, there are fewer and fewer places for beers to be sold. Jimmy is up for it, though: "I enjoy taking on the big boys."

Lowrise has been featured by Sir Richard Branson, promoting their beer to his 25 million followers. Jimmy laughs when asked about this. "I saw he was holding a competition where you give a one minute pitch to a doorbell in a lift at his hotel down the road from my office. So, I decided to give it a go, and went down on my lunch break. To be honest, I forgot about it for a while until my sister kept calling me as I was going into a meeting. I picked up and she told me to check my Instagram. And there was Richard Branson, promoting my beer!"

Branson received a delivery of Lowrise to his island. From that one minute pitch, Jimmy has had a lot of opportunities, including an interview with Simon Squibb, a start-up guru with more than ten million followers. Retailers are more and more aware of Lowrise too, and, with the company currently in a fundraising phase, investors are keen to have a piece of the action.

Despite having lived in the UK for quite a while now, Jimmy still feels a strong connection to Grammar. "It's a brotherhood", he says. He is still in touch with a number of Old Boys who have travelled north and they catch up frequently. Whenever anyone needs a hand with something or an introduction to someone, they are all happy to help out however they can.

Looking back at his time at Grammar, Jimmy is the first to acknowledge he may not have been your traditional academic. As someone who loves his sports, though, he learnt plenty on the pitch. He remembers Dave Gordon, his cricket coach and English teacher in Forms 3 and 4. "I was opening the bowling against Kings and, for the first ball, he decided to put everyone in the slip cordon. I suppose it taught me to think outside the box."

Jimmy certainly thinks outside the box. Few people would have the courage to start a brewery from scratch during tough economic times. But Lowrise's success speaks for itself. After all - "if you do ordinary things, you get ordinary results."

For United Kingdom residents, you can find Lowrise online at lowrisebrewery.com or at your local Waitrose.