Gin makers land backing on Dragons’ Den

Mark Smallwood and Liam Manton

Didsbury Gin owners Liam Manton and Mark Smallwood have landed £67,500 in funding thanks to an appearance on TV show Dragons’ Den.

British entrepreneur, dragon and gin lover Jenny Campbell will bring a wealth of experience to help Didsbury Gin and her wide range of contacts will further support their ambitious growth plans.

Accountants Hallidays and the Business Growth Hub advised Didsbury Gin on the seed investment round and supported them throughout the deal to completion.

Didsbury Gin has grown from an initial experiment in the back room of Liam’s house in January 2017 and a £20,000 loan from Business Finance Solutions.

The gin is already stocked in Selfridges and Harvey Nichols across the UK, as well as the Cheese Hamlet and Epicurean in Didsbury, and Foragin in Marple.

The team has also secured partnerships with NWTC, where their gin is now stocked in all The Botanist bars across the UK, The Florist venues in Bristol and Liverpool, plus further NWTC venues including The Trading House, The Canal House and The Club House.

The craft Didsbury Gin combines traditional artisan methods and infusing modern botanicals using a blend of hand peeled fresh citrus, British roots and hand cracked juniper berries.

The tipple has already been hailed by Vogue Magazine as ‘one of the most exciting new British gins’ and the limited Christmas edition sold out in only a day.

Phil Jones, Director at Hallidays said: “It’s inspiring to watch new businesses grow and develop and be able to support them through their journey.
“We are delighted for Didsbury Gin and will be helping nurture their future business goals of expanding their sales team and increasing their market share for domestic and overseas.”

Liam Manton, co-founder of Didsbury Gin, said: “We originally got in touch with Hallidays because we needed someone to do our accounts but also because they had investment experience which we hoped would be useful in the future.

“They were very supportive and didn’t want to oversell us services we didn’t need or charge us for every single little thing which as a small start-up was so valuable.”

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