£20,000 loan for start-up was gin’s tonic
AN artisan gin business has taken its product from a home distillery in Didsbury to the shelves of Harvey Nichols and the pages of Vogue.
Gin enthusiasts Liam Manton and Mark Smallwood took their inspiration for Didsbury Gin from the botanical gardens of Fletcher Moss & Parsonage, which were given to the village of Didsbury by Alderman Fletcher Moss.
From an initial experiment in the back room of Manton’s home, Didsbury Gin has now taken the drinks market by storm, with distribution in Harvey Nichols and Selfridges and praise from British Vogue, who recently hailed it ‘one of the most exciting new British gin brands.’
The ambition was realised thanks to a £20,000 loan from Business Finance Solutions (BFS), the north west delivery partner of the government’s national £310m Start Up Loans programme and a lending partner of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Now hand-crafted in an ecofriendly copper in batches of 100 bottles, the flavours of the gin are inspired by the plants and flowers of the eponymous gardens, combining a blend of botanicals, fresh grapefruit, orange, lime and lemon peels, underpinned by British roots and aromas.
Didsbury Gin is a citrus take on a classic London Dry Gin.
Manton and Smallwood believe their passion for using a combination of fresh peels to lead the flavour profile enhances their overall distillation process by releasing more fragrant essential oils.
Recalling their first meetings with Harvey Nichols, Manton said: “We took it to the buying team at Harvey Nichols thinking they might want it for Manchester, and they asked if they can launch them nationally across all their stores.
“It was funny, we walked in with these unbranded bottles in an old suitcase with a big bag of lemon and thyme, we must have looked like Del Boy and Rodney.”
Manton and Smallwood went on to launch a limited edition Christmas Gin, which sold out in a day, and plan to develop more flavoured gins. Other goals for 2018 include securing additional investment to expand the brand, growing stockists numbers and embarking on a period of domestic and overseas growth in 2018.
Manton and Smallwood will also be growing their team with two new sales roles this year and looking at how they can train young people as they grow their hospitality offer.
Manton said: “Working with BFS in our first year was great - they helped us sense check our business plan, challenged us in areas where we needed to expand our knowledge and have linked us in with the Business Growth Hub who are helping us with our growth aspirations.”