County Durham distillery unveils plans to create new jobs in ‘ginpire’ expansion

Two years after the first bottle of gin left County Durham based WL Distillery, the business has been establishing its ‘ginpire’ with plans for future expansion set to be unveiled.

In a short space of time the independent distillery made “one almighty splash” in the gin market, from picking up international awards to being featured at London’s world-famous Science Museum.

WL Distillery released its award-winning 1st Edition Gin in September 2020, shortly after the newly launched distillery halted production earlier in the year and switched production to sanitiser. This shift supported organisations across the North East including foodbanks, Grace House, Sunderland Samaritans, schools and NHS staff.

Since restarting production in 2020 the distillery has gone from strength to strength, and although 2021 remained uncertain, the team behind 1st Edition Gin continued to innovate and the portfolio grew to include limited edition festive and Valentine ranges alongside Wilson’s Gin Club ‘Watermelon and Liquorice’, increasing the range to six flavours.

A sample of hand sanitiser produced and equipment used by WL Distillery was acquired by the Science Museum Group as part of its COVID-19 Collecting Project. The hand sanitiser joined other historic items in the collection in London to provide insights into the medical and scientific advancements of the last two years.

As the distillery raises a glass to their second year in business, the team have unveiled plans to ramp up expansion. Further investment and site acquisition at their County Durham based site will assist in expanding their product portfolio and developing their export growth strategy to support further accelerated growth.

Scott Wilson-Laing, founder and managing director, WL Distillery, commented: “The new site will see us expand our operations to enable us to continue to make our award-winning gins.

“The introduction of a larger still and an enhanced storage area will enable us to launch a variety of new and exciting spirits making us one of only a handful of distilleries within England doing so.

“Pre-orders for these will be released in the next few months. The expansion will also enable us to increase our workforce creating skilled jobs within the region in a very exciting and dynamic industry.”

“With interest for our gins coming from other countries this expansion will also enable us to explore exporting our products to other areas outside of the UK. The demand for our gin continues to be strong and the further developments over the coming months mark another really exciting chapter for the company.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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