In 2003, the Whitstable Oyster Company stepped in to save a Kentish microbrewery's site when it folded. They hired Rafik Abidi, a Heriot-Watt trained brewer with years of experience of the British brewing industry and he got straight to brewing great beer! Almost ten years and a huge increase in production later and Whitstable Brewery's range has gone from one to twelve beers and five to hundreds of outlets. Needless to say Raf finally has someone else to drive the van and do the cleaning for him.