A Scots distillery has doubled the size of its premises and turnover in its first year and invested in a new 500-litre still.
Linlithgow Distillery, creators of LinGin, made from locally foraged botanicals from around Linlithgow Loch, has enjoyed its success thanks to a £4000 Growth Assistance Grant and ongoing support from Business Gateway West Lothian.
The company was founded by Linlithgow couple Ross and Alyson Jamieson who decided to come out of retirement after selling their IT business and embark upon a new venture.
Following months of distillery training and working with focus groups to get the perfect recipe, which includes meadowsweet, cubeb and bitter orange plus three secret botanicals, the first batch of LinGin, using a 100-litre still, was produced in January 2018 in their first site in Mill Road Industrial Estate, Linlithgow Bridge.
Within a year, due to increased demand online and from wholesalers, including Select Drams, Huffmans and Terroir Vines, the company, with the help of the Growth Assistance Grant of £4k from Business Gateway West Lothian, moved across the road from the original site and doubled in size, with space to host tasting sessions and tours in the future and invest in a second 500-litre still.
Over the last year the couple have received ongoing 121 support from Business Gateway West Lothian, in areas including product development and export guidance.
This has helped them to develope a new range of Four Marys flavoured gins inspired by the four ladies-in-waiting to Mary Queen of Scots.
Four Marys Zesty Sherbet, Four Marys Bonny Bramble and Four Marys Forever Fresh have recently launched with plans to launch the final Mary, Four Marys Subtly Spiced by the end of October.
Alyson said: ‘The success of LinGin and the great feedback we’re receiving on our Four Marys gins has been fantastic.
‘Demand has grown quite literally by the month as word spread, orders increased and the realisation that we really had created something quite special became apparent.
‘We’re both full-time on the business now and enjoying every minute of it particularly the local foraging around the loch and nearby canals where I grew up and taking our gins on tour to events and trade fairs to get face-to-face feedback.
‘Thanks to organisations like Business Gateway West Lothian we’ve been able to make use of lots of free help in areas including product development and exporting and financial support to help with the expansion and keep us on the right track along the way, which we hugely appreciate.’
Jim Henderson, Business Gateway manager, West Lothian Council, said: ‘This is a great example of another higher-value start-up flourishing with support from West Lothian Council’s Business Gateway team. It is very encouraging to see how Ross and Alyson are developing their product range. We wish the Linlithgow Distillery every continued success.’
Business Gateway West Lothian provides expert support and guidance to new and existing businesses, including free advice from experienced business advisers to help start-ups and growth businesses planning to expand or find new ways of doing business.
Free resources include local workshops and seminars covering everything from marketing and finance to HR and e-commerce.
Fnd out more about Business Gateway West Lothian HERE.
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