EDINBURGH’S Summerhall Distillery is looking to raise £350,000 via peer-to-peer platform LendingCrowd to ensure it can make enough gin-filled Christmas baubles to meet the expected 2017 demand.

Summerhall, which was established by Matthew Gammell and Marcus Pickering in 2013, began selling baubles filled with its Pickering’s Gin at the end of last year, with the product proving so popular that the final batch sold out online in 82 seconds.

Mr Pickering said that the “massive demand” has taken the business “pleasantly by surprise”, adding that raising the cash through LendingCrowd would allow the firm to “react quickly and make sure we deliver for our customers next Christmas”.

LendingCrowd sees investors lend cash to a range of different businesses, with the rates of interest set depending on how risky the investment is.