Gin firm teeters on the edge of administration

Stricken gin distiller and retailer Burleighs has edged closed to administration, according to documents seen by TheBusinessDesk.com.

The Leicestershire-based company has this week posted a second notice of intention to appoint administrators.

The notice of intention provides a 10-day moratorium from other creditor action and is designed to give a business the opportunity to find a way to prevent entering administration.

Funder, the FSE Group, is the applicant behind the notice of intention. The move comes less than two years after Loughborough-based Burleighs Gin secured £250,000 from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), provided by The FSE Group and backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

The funding was going to be used to allow the company to further establish its export sales – expanding its presence in Europe and the Far East, with further plans to move into the United States. Five new jobs were also mooted.

However, at the beginning of November, Burleighs Gin temporarily closed its distillery and posted an initial notice of intention to appoint administrators.

At the time, the company said that it is unable to accept orders and that it is postponing all events and Gin Academy sessions in November.

A statement said: “We thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter and will update with more information as soon as we can.

“Ticket holders for the Burleighs Gin Academy will be contacted directly in due course.”

A notice on Burleighs website said that it was unable to take orders “due to unforeseen circumstances”.

Just days later, TheBusinessDesk.com learned that the owners of Burleighs were preparing to liquidate the company.

A source has told us that business advisory firm Kirks, which has offices in Exeter and London, has written to creditors saying that Burleighs are “commencing liquidation proceedings”.

The FSE Group did not respond to our requests for a statement.