PARTY-LOVING Glaswegians have increased footfall at city newsagents stocking a new canned version of a bright green alcohol drink by up to 50 per cent – and it’s all the brainchild of one university student.

University of the West of Scotland student Kieran Dewar has made the dreams of city clubbers everywhere come true by creating the canned version of the hit beverage Venom.

The fluorescent favourite was only developed six weeks ago and has already sold in multiple locations throughout Scotland, while its official launch party, Project V, earlier this month drew hundreds to Glasgow night spot, TUR who were keen to test the new concoction.

Now, 21-year-old Kieran, who is originally from Dalbeattie in Dumfries and Galloway, is preparing to put his education on hold to grow the business.

He told the Evening Times: “It’s sort of random really. I was in a Wetherspoons in Paisley, where I live, last summer with pals and we were talking about nights out in Glasgow and how popular the drink was – we would drink it ourselves.

“I thought ‘if someone put it in a can, it would do really well, it’s such a popular drink in Scotland’.

“I did a bit of research into it but then starting focusing on my university work, it wasn’t until this year I thought ‘I’m going to go for it’.”

Kieran asked his mates from the pub if they were keen to take part in the project with him, but none were.

So the chemical engineering student set out to find someone who could help the firm.

He teamed up with Leicester-based drinks giant Drinks Lab Solution and, miraculously, his product hit the shelves just 30 days later.

The brand – which has three options, green, red and yellow each being slightly different but with no traditional flavour description attached – is now stocked in local off licenses in a deliberate move to support local businesses throughout Glasgow and beyond.

However, due to high demand, Kieran has to put his dreams of gaining a university degree in hold as stock continues to sell-out, with one shop in Irvine reporting four fully stocked shelves were gone in the space of 45 minutes.

The former fourth year student said: “I will probably go back [to university] at some point.

“I do want to finish it off but this is the priority for now.

“I’ve always wanted to be self-employed university, I thought of university as sort of a transition.

“I knew it would be popular but I didn’t think it was going to be this big – not at this point certainly.”

The entrepreneur is now desperate to put Scotland on the map with the new drinks brand, which he is currently working on around the clock.

“My pals are really proud and they’re really surprised it’s gone this far – everyone is. It’s just crazy.

“We’ve already had big interest from pubs and clubs. We’re focusing on the Scottish market just now but we’re hoping to go national and continue to develop - perhaps even global, who knows?

“This is what we will be doing, we won’t be doing our own whiskey or anything. We’ll be focusing on venoms.”

The popularity of the drink throughout pubs and clubs across the city is already well known, with the brightly coloured beverage costing around £5 a glass – it’s a staple in most Glasgow night out photos across social media.

But hardworking Kieran spent his own launch night party – filled with students in the same position he was in just weeks ago – collecting research on how to improve his new company.

It’s a world away from the science field he planned on entering but he’s confident he can make it work and have a good time doing it.

“[The launch] was a brilliant night. Everyone seemed to love it, which is great,” Kieran said.

“One shop in Irvine sold out in 45 minutes.

“I mean it’s crazy, I never expected anything even close to this.

“When I started I had something like 40 likes on our Facebook page and within a week we had around 6,000. I just can’t believe it.

“We’re keeping up with it, definitely, we’re working hard and we’re not going to stop working hard.

“I’m determined to make a success of this.”

Drinks Lab Solution’s product developer David Mills is also shocked at how far this business, which began in a student flat outside Glasgow, has come already and he expects it to continue to grow.

He said: “I don’t think Kieran even really understands what he’s done. It’s been massive.

“It’s been a bit of a crazy few weeks but it’s been great.

“We’ve been lucky to help out smaller businesses that stock our product a lot so far with foot-traffic. So when people have been going into the shops to get their Venom they’ve then obviously picked up some other things while they’re there.

“We’ve been told we’ve increased some shops’ business by up to 50 per cent which is incredible to think.”

A spokesman for UWS added: “We encourage all of our students to take an entrepreneurial outlook and Kieran has shown real business acumen and hard work with his new venture.

“As always UWS encourages people to drink responsibly.”