Manchester distillery to open site for third-party production

The City of Manchester Distillery has invested £900,000 (US$1.1 million) to build a second site that will produce third-party spirits.

The Alcohol Solutions site is due to open in September this year

UK-based City of Manchester Distillery, producer of Three Rivers Gin, has established Alcohol Solutions as it seeks to expand its range of alcohol services.

Dave Rigby, co-founder of City of Manchester Distillery and Alcohol Solutions, said: “We’ve been expanding our services over the last few years, creating drinks for everyone from microdistilleries to multinationals. Setting up Alcohol Solutions was a natural next step and further develops our services.

“The investment, combined with our experience, means we have the wisdom, knowledge and capabilities to meet any opportunity to create an alcohol-based drink and bring it to market.”

The new 13,000-square-foot site will open in Carrington, Manchester, in mid-September 2020. It will have the capacity to produce 10 million cans and bottles annually.

The site will house a CL5 canning line, a British-made bottling line and a bonded facility.

The City of Manchester Distillery will continue to operate from its current premises in the city centre, where it hosts a gin experience for consumers. Going forward, the distillery will trade as part of Alcohol Solutions.

‘Quick and cost-effective’

Graham Gibson, director of Alcohol Solutions, said: “We have developed the new company because we’ve become so much more than a distiller of gin and other spirits.

“We can take a concept from scratch to create retail-ready drinks, help companies perfect flavourings and ingredients, source liquids as well as bottle and can drinks, so they can be distributed and sold on a wider-scale.

“There’s a lot of value in outsourcing during the development of new alcohol drinks, and this will only grow further following the financial impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies will be looking for quick and cost-effective routes to market.”

The new site will have the potential to be upscaled and could create more jobs to meet market demand. Initially, the facility will create six jobs.

Rigby said Alcohol Solutions aims to save companies “time and money when it comes to sourcing, producing and packing alcohol-based drinks”.

He said: “Demand for our services will rise as pubs, bars and restaurants start to reopen and consumers increasingly demand innovation in a post-lockdown economy. We’re still seeing brands and retailers bringing new drinks to market.

“Hard seltzers are fast emerging, while changes in events and socialising will further alter how people drink. Single-serve cans for a wide range of drinks from craft beers to premium cocktails will be big business.

“Alcohol Solutions is a business that can help companies of any size capitalise on such trends, both quickly and cost-effectively.”