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Fords Gin opens brand home in London
Brown-Forman-owned Fords Gin has opened a brand home and cocktail bar in south London, within the relocated Thames Distillers site.
The brand home and cocktail bar is located in the borough of Southwark in Bermondsey on 12 Ossory Road.
Fords Gin was founded by Simon Ford in 2012, who consulted bartenders on the creation of the liquid. Produced by London’s Thames Distillers, the brand was purchased by US firm Brown-Forman in 2019.
“To finally have an interactive home for Fords Gin is an enormous milestone and is something I dreamed of from the very beginning,” said Ford.
“Bartenders played a vital role in the creation of Fords Gin and will always be the cornerstone of the brand. This bar allows us to return the hospitality we’ve always been given. I can’t wait to share our story with visitors from London and all over the world, in the place where it is made, at a bar that embodies its journey.”
The new bar was designed with bartenders in mind and created in collaboration with Leo Robitschek (of The NoMad) and Zoe Masterton-Smith from London-based architect firm Transit Studio.
The bar features the brand’s signature green colour throughout, alongside a 200-year old maple floor, vintage apothecary and mid-century furniture pieces, and Tage Poulsen sofas.
Pre-batched Fords Gin cocktails will be served from umbrella-shaped taps on the back bar, in tribute to the brand’s signature passport stamps.
The kitchen is equipped with Japanese ice machines and technology to make bitters, syrups and flavour components.
Thames Distillers has also hired its first international distiller, Ockju Lee, who hails from a family distilling business in Korea. She holds a Masters degree in brewing and distilling from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University.
Thames Distillers has moved from Balham to the new site within The Bottle Factory, a restored Victorian bottle plant in Burgess Park.
“Our continuing link with London has always been part of our lifeblood at Thames Distillers,” added Thames Distillers chief operating officer George Maxwell.
“It is one of the world’s most progressive and multicultural cities and the home of our family’s craft.
“Our new location is a magnificent representation of our values, and we’re honoured to step into it, with new capabilities, alongside our partner Fords Gin. We’re invigorated by this new chapter and look forward to further shaping London’s story of gin.”
Fords Gin’s new bar will be open to the on-trade for events, tours and scheduled activities and will be available for private hire from autumn 2024.
In addition to Fords Gin, Brown-Forman owns Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Herradura Tequila and Gin Mare, among others.
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