Perfect tonic for Britain’s gin makers as annual sales triple to £461m

IT WAS once best known as mother’s ruin, associated with the less salubrious images of Hogarth’s London and destined, it appeared, to remain firmly out of fashion.

But gin has bounced back in some style, as housewives and hipsters throughout the land have been convinced of its virtues.

Sales have tripled since 2009, as Britons rediscovered their taste for the spirit. Drinkers spent £461million on gin last year, up 32.5 per cent on the previous year, the Office for National Statistics said. That compares with just £126million splashed out by gin lovers in 2009, with the renewed interest also helping fuel a surge in new distilleries.

Last year, 49 distilleries opened in the UK, according to HM Revenue and Customs and the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA), while just seven closed their doors.

The new sites are split between 22 in England, 20 in Scotland, four in Wales and three in Northern Ireland. As a result, the UK now has 315 distilleries, more than double the 152 in operation five years ago.

The WSTA said the rise in sales is due to “premiumisation” as drinkers are increasingly prepared to spend more money on high-end alcohol.

That includes a focus on quality as well as the use of local ingredients, the provenance of the drink and the backstory of the distillery or its founders.

In addition, gin can be made with a wide range of botanicals and flavourings, giving discerning drinkers more options than offered by other spirits such as vodka.

However, gin is not alone in enjoying a renaissance. Whisky sales also climbed by £304million on the year to £3.4billion in 2017.

By comparison Britain’s soft drinks manufacturers’ sales slid from £3.9 billion in 2016 to £3.8 billion last year.

The WSTA estimates there are 172,000 people directly employed in the spirits industry, with another 105,000 in the supply chain.

Rising sales of spirits also means the exchequer is in line for a windfall. Duty on the high-alcohol drinks should bring in £3.5billion this financial year, rising to £4 billion in 2022-23, the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts. That tax haul is up from £2.7billion in 2009-10.

The surge in spirit sales is part of a wider trend for the UK’S food and drinks manufacturers. Food manufacturers’ sales rose 7 per cent last year to £70.3billion, extending its lead as the biggest division in British manufacturing with 18.3 per cent of the total. Beverages and tobacco are grouped as one category, which held flat on the year with £13.8billion in sales.

UK manufacturers across all industries made £384.5 billion in sales in 2017, up 5.4 per cent on the year.

Miles Beale, WSTA chief executive, said: “The British public’s thirst for gin shows no sign of slowing down…. Gin, aside from the classic G&T serve, is also a really versatile spirit and works great in cocktails, so the growth of cocktail bars across the UK helps gin’s popularity, too.”