The Lakes Distillery is set to expand its visitor attraction and treble its stock after securing investment totalling £3.75m.
The company opened England’s largest whisky, gin and vodka distillery in 2014, starting production on the banks of Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria, while setting up its head office in Gosforth, Newcastle.
Since then its spirits have won a number of awards, and its visitor centre, distillery tours, shop and bistro have also won acclaim, including recognition from VisitEngland.
Now the business – founded by chief operating officer Paul Currie, who was later joined by Nigel Mills – has announced plans to step up capacity and expand the experience for visitors, after securing £2.1m from a group of investors led by Gresham House Asset Management, a specialist equity investment and asset management company.
The funding comes on top of an additional £1.6m from existing investors and high-net-worth individuals made recently, and the directors said it tops a milestone year for the distillery, which is aiming to create a global single malt whisky brand.
The investment will provide working capital as well as go towards several capital expenditure projects.
Meanwhile, the firm is also still planning to raise finance for a potential flotation on the London Stock Exchange.
Projects include the automation of part of its production process, as well as continuous improvements and expansions to the distillery, visitor attraction, tour and bistro.
Most Read
It also aims to increase the single malt stock it lays down, from 400,000 bottles per year to 1.2m bottles, putting it in the mainstream of global single malt producers.
Mr Mills, chief executive officer of The Lakes Distillery said: “We’re delighted about the opportunities this investment opens up.
“We’ve been on an incredible journey so far, and Gresham House’s investment will allow us to take the business to the next level, grow production capacity and build our brand globally.
“The funding will support the growth of the business, allow us to expand of the amount of single malt stock we lay down for the future, and finance some critical capital expenditure projects, including further enhancing our distillery experience for visitors.”
Graham Bird, lead fund manager at Gresham House Strategic, said: “The Lakes Distillery has an impressive and experienced management team led by Nigel Mills, as well as an excellent track record in its field.
“With ambitions to float the business in two to three years’ time, this fits our mandate very well for supporting pre-IPO companies as well as highlighting our ability to complete innovative deals which provide attractive, risk-appropriate returns.”
The Lakes was supported in the deal by Muckle LLP, led by Andrew Davison and Louise Duffy, as legal advisors and by N+1 Singer, led by Sandy Fraser, as financial advisors.