Dragons’ Den backed gin company shuts down with £200k debt – despite £75k investment from show star
A GIN brand that featured on Dragons’ Den and received a £75k investment from Jenny Campbell has shut down with major debts.
Didsbury Gin Company, which is stocked in major retailers including Harvey Nichols, Aldi and Wetherspoons, owes nearly £200k to creditors.
Owners Mark Smallwood and Liam Manton appeared in the Den in 2018, initially wanting £75k for 15 percent of the business.
But Campbell negotiated to put up the sum in exchange for a third of the company, which they accepted.
It looked to be a good partnership with the brand winning awards – such as World’s Best Classic Gin at the 2022 World Gin Awards – and becoming well-known within the drinks industry.
Just two years after their appearance on the Beeb, the company racked up £3million in total sales and the future looked rosy.
Last year Smallwood and Manton were made OBEs for using their brand’s surplus alcohol to help make millions of bottles of hand sanitiser for the medical industry during the coronvirus pandemic.
But while the achievements built up, the business’s bottom line wobbled.
New documents filed to Companies House show that among the debt, nearly £65,000 is owed to NatWest, and £40,657 to Greencroft Bottling.
Liquidators have been brought in to wind the company down.
The business’s owners previously told Enterprise Nation how the business originated.
They explained it was the bumper bar tab in a local boozer that made them think they could provide a quality, cheaper offering.
“We did more research than we make out,” they admitted. “We met with distillers, distributors and people who run gin stalls or make products for other people. Then we started working on the flavour profile and the style we wanted to come up with.
“Originally, we were going to make some gin for ourselves and our friends. When we created a sample, the feedback was good so we did a taster event. I ended up running a big party with members of the press there. We decided then that we would start it up as a business.”