Gin distillery site bought for £5.25m
THE home of Warrington’s famous G&J Greenall’s gin distillery has been bought for £5.25m by a property investment company.
Saturon acquired the 105,000 sq ft site on Clayton Road in Birchwood from the Norwich Union Life Pensions Fund.
Paul Ashley, managing directo of Saturon, said: “This is an excellent, modern site that offers us good opportunity for capital growth. We are always looking for opportunities to add quality sites to our property portfolio and are very pleased to have concluded this transaction.”
The site is leased to the De Vere Group and houses the company’s G&J Greenall gin and vodka distillery.
De Vere signed a 10 year lease on the site in 2007 and has invested £3m to create a new distillery after a blaze destroyed the original G&J Greenall base on Bridge Street in 2005.
Gin production in Warrington dates back to 1761 when Thomas Dakin opened a distillery on Bridge Street. This was subsequently acquired by Lancashire Brewer Edward Greenall who founded G&J Greenall in 1860.
The modern day site produces over 6.5m cases of gin and vodka each year and the firm also has global third party production contracts with brands such as Bombay Sapphire Gin and Three Olives vodka.
The deal was partially funded by The Royal Bank of Scotland’s property finance team in Liverpool, which provided £2.6m to complete the transaction.
The G & J Greenall gin distilling business is unaffected by the deal amd remains owned and operated by AHG, the Alternative Hotel Group.
Christian Rose, chief executive of G & J Greenall said: “The sale of the freehold to Saturon will have no effect on our continued growth as a business. AHG is the sole owner of G & J Greenall and the business is pleased to report significant growth in 2009.”
G & J Greenall makes Greenall’s gin, the new super-premium BLOOM and Berkeley Square gins and Cristalnaya vodka.
