1)discuss the mainPolitical,Economic,Sociological, andTechnological(PEST) trends that will affect theGloucester Brewery Group'sbusiness over the next 5-10 years. (From the case study provided below) Case study Gloucester brewery was founded as a grass roots business in September 2011 by Jared Brown. He started running the brewery as a part time project but growth was so fast that it quickly became a full time venture. Support from local businesses and dedication to creating a strong core following helped to grow and shape the business during these early days, with Jared out 'on the road' visiting customers and potential customers to help spread the word and get the beers out into the market place. During this period we were brewing just once per week. Over the next couple of years the brewery continued to grow in popularity and the demand for beer kept rising, during this period we were brewing more frequently, 2 or 3 times a week, and it became necessary to start growing the team. This additional recruitment gave us the opportunity to continue to develop both the brewery and the beers even further. During this period the business diversified with the introduction of our 'craft range' of beers - this meant the introduction of punchier new-world hops, higher ABV's and the introduction of keg beers. At this stage there were very few breweries creating these craft beers and the keg beer market hadn't expanded the way it has done today so this was a totally new move that hadn't been done by any other brewery in the county at this time. As 2015 approached it became clear that the demand for our beers was far outstripping our ability to produce them in our current location, this prompted a move of premises to a disused Malthouse (the same that the brewery is currently located in) across the other side of the docks. This opened up a number of avenues for the business, primarily it allowed the introduction of additional fermentation vessels and conditioning tanks, this allowed an increase in the quantity of beer being produced but also increased controls over the beers quality. The move also opened up the opportunity to open TANK, our taphouse, where our beers could be served alongside guest beers, high quality wines, spirits and other drinks, as well as food with a focus on deli meats, Burgers, wraps, cheeses and pizzas. These moves prompted a huge recruitment drive with the team swelling from 5 staff members to closer to 60 split across both sites, with the introduction of job roles from bar staff to general manager, chefs, and additional sales people in the brewery. It was a very hectic and busy time, but ultimately incredibly rewarding. Whilst fitting the brewery into the new site we were able to dedicate a fairly substantial amount of space to creating a brewery bottle shop, previously very limited in the old site, and we added to this with a tasting bar and a small events space. This move created multiple extra avenues for generating revenue in the business that would come into full use later. 2017 saw things starting to settle down, TANK was running smoothly and customer feedback on both the bar and our beers was fantastic. Customers had reacted positively to our new bottle shop, and trade sales were still on the rise with the team brewing at full capacity once again. The brewing team were looking to keep on top of the game with exciting beers using the best hops, this means ordering well in advance (with some contracts arranged up to 2 years before the hops are needed!) The beer styles being brewed also diversified further with the introduction of sour beers and the first of our barrel ageing projects, during this diversification it was important for us to not lose sight of our core market and maintain the quality of our existing brands such as Gloucester Gold and Cascade. 2017 also saw the events space really start to come into it's own, with the creation of the event manager role we were able to introduce many more uses - our first beer festivals, regular comedy nights, student events, private venue hire and the opening of the tasting bar during shop opening hours. The uptake on these events was encouraging to say the least and has continued to grow ever since, with the brewery in use almost every Friday and Saturday evening, either for one of our own regular events or for a private function with bookings already made well into 2019. Through 2018/19 growth in all areas has continued and we expect to see this trend continue as the craft beer market continues to grow and consumers take more and more care over what they are eating and drinking. What this means for us is an opportunity to continue our expansion, produce more beer and to continue to push the boundaries in terms of flavours and quality. In the current market consumers are not just looking for a quality product, but also for a special experience and this creates further opportunities for us to maximise the use of our events space, creating something that little bit more special than just a night out at your local bar, be it through beer festivals, comedy nights, brewery tours, or just the chance to drink incredible beer on the site it was brewed, served by the people responsible for creating it. There are a number of factors that now create threats to our position in the market, locally, nationally and globally some of which we have very little control over. Following the Brexit referendum we saw a rapid increase in the cost of imports - this includes most of the hops we use in our beers, already the most expensive ingredient even before the vote. We also entered a time of uncertainty, with no real understanding of how things will progress during and after the Brexit negotiations it led to a tightening of the belt for many people and a reduction in spending on non-essentials such as beer. Combine this with the current trend of the craft beer market, with more and more breweries opening nation-wide and competing for custom from a declining number of pubs and it becomes clear that the marketplace is becoming more and more competitive. To keep business growing it now becomes essential to be on the top of your game at all times, for some this means diversification of their business model - as we have done, for others it is focussing on the quality (and possibly affordability) of their core product - such as our Gloucester Gold and Session IPA beers, and for others still it may come down to creativity and trying to stay one step ahead of the pack, bringing out the newest and coolest beers, experimenting with special / seasonal ale's, and creating new trends. In 2021 we invested in a gin still (which our UoG students named as 'The Lady of Mercia'..) and we now have a range of Fox's Kiln Gin and vodka. As a successful local and Gloucestershire oriented business, the Gloucester Brewery group has many stakeholders; these include owners, shareholders, employees, suppliers, local residents, local Government and loyal customers. In 2021 the G. Brewery group ran a popular and successful crowd funding campaign that increased the amount of investment and massively widen the geographic interest in the G. Brewery Group. Funds from this activity will go towards renovation work and possible venue expansion