An Exeter-based rum distillery that featured on the final episode of Hairy Bikers Go West is set for major growth after securing £100,000.
Husband-and-wife duo Russ and Gemma Wakeham set up Two Drifters in 2019, with a vision to create a business which was carbon negative. The company has an electric distillery that runs on 100% renewable energy.
The cash injection from Time Finance will be used to help fund the company's alcohol tax duty and expand rum production. It will also fund an on-site bar, which will be open to the public.
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Mr Wakeham, said: “For every £35 bottle of rum we sell, £12 of that is tax, and that cost for our business is constant. It needs to be paid on the day our rum leaves the distillery, so while the business is thriving and profitable, we have taken on major new stockists which means payment and cashflow have become less predictable for the business."
The company said it had doubled its profits year-on-year since being established and had recently secured a contract with British Airways as well as deals with restaurants and bars, and other 海角视频 stockists including Fenwick and Threshers.
Earlier this year, Two Drifters appeared on the final episode of Hairy Bikers - and Mr Wakeham said the business was inundated with orders as a result.
"Within two minutes of the programme airing we had thousands and thousands of website orders," he recalled. "With a business model typically centred around stockists of our rum, this influx of website orders from direct consumers was a great surprise for us.
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"The business is growing at a fantastic rate, and we want to keep it that way, and with this facility from Time Finance we can continue to create the very best, carbon negative rum.”
Mike Freebury, business development manager at Time Finance, added: “Two Drifters is a brilliant business and I’m pleased that we have the capability to provide speedy and effective financial solutions to help them grow.”