A small Scottish distillery is exporting gin-filled baubles to the United States for the first time after securing a seven-figure funding package from HSBC UK.
Pickering’s Gin is making increased numbers of gin baubles ahead of the holiday season in response to a significant rise in demand both domestically and overseas since the product’s launch in 2014, the firm said.
The funding has also enabled the Edinburgh-based Summerhall Distillery to lease its first warehouse facility to store the additional baubles and employ eight seasonal staff, adding to its 19 full-time permanent employees.
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In its first year, the company sold a few hundred of their gin-filled Christmas baubles but an online surge two years later prompted a scale-up of production to over one million baubles in 2017.
This year, the distillery has produced in the region of 1.2 million baubles, all filled on site with specially designed machinery.
Almost half a million baubles have been shipped to the US and are now for sale across 23 states for the very first time.
Matthew Gammell, co-founder, head distiller and head of production at Pickering’s Gin, said: "We launched our gin baubles as a festive, novelty product to sell over Christmas but never anticipated we’d have such a positive response from consumers."
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Marcus Pickering, co-founder and head of export at Pickering’s Gin, said: "HSBC UK has provided us with essential banking facilities that allow us to sustain growth as we respond to continually increasing demand for our products within the UK and overseas."
Susan Rowand, of HSBC UK in Scotland, said: "Marcus and Matthew run an impressive operation at Pickering’s Gin and know how to develop quality products that appeal to their customers."
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