The Lakes Distillery

Summary

The Lakes are on their journey to create one of the world’s finest sherry-matured single malt whiskies. With an unrelenting focus on quality and flavour, this raise will underpin increases in single malt production, helping them to meet future demand in a market worth $60bn and expected to reach $108bn within the next 10 years.

Highlights

• 1.4m 70cl equivalent bottles of maturing whisky in stock
• Single malt sold to date on strict allocation at RRP of £65-£250
• Sold 1.1m equivalent 70cl bottles to date across our award winning spirits portfolio
• Multiple routes to market generating 12% revenue growth since 2019 (EBITDA -£1.5m equivalent period)

Idea

Inspired by the natural beauty of the Lake District National Park, the company's ambition is to create one of the world’s finest sherry-matured single malt whiskies.

Having observed the evolution of the wine industry and the emergence of New World Wine, we saw a similar opportunity to innovate within the world of whisky. With an artistic approach and long-standing sense of responsibility, we’re dedicated to building a global single malt whisky brand.

The whisky market is rapidly expanding, forecast to almost double, from $60bn to $108bn, by 2031, with existing and new whisky consumers actively looking for new, exciting whiskies.

Laying down its spirit into predominantly bespoke sherry casks, the company's maturing whisky stock sits at 1.4m 70cl equivalent bottles .

We have strategically released ~50k bottles of The Lakes Single Malt since September 2019, on an allocation basis, achieving premium price points through selected distribution in key single malt markets, such as Master of Malt & Harvey Nichols.

The company is now at an inflexion point; established routes to market and significant levels of maturing stock to satisfy its short to medium term growth aspirations.

This fundraise will allow us to start increasing single malt production beyond historic levels to meet forecast future demand.

Team

With an entrepreneurial culture of collaboration and innovation, we’re proud to have a lifetime of whiskymaking and commercial experience.

Tim Farazmand, Chairman (Non Exec)

Experienced PE investor, Tim was MD of Lloyds Development Capital. Educated at Cambridge, he’s a leader in impact and responsible investment.

Nigel Mills CBE, CEO & co-founder

Qualified accountant and entrepreneur, Nigel built a national chain of convenience stores and, following a successful exit, co-founded The Lakes. A founder member of the Entrepreneur’s Forum- awarded a CBE for services to entrepreneurship.

Its non execs include Paul Neep former CEO of The Glenmorangie Company who oversaw their sale and integration into LVMH, chair of remuneration and nomination committees, while Richard Hutton, FD at Greggs PLC, chairs our audit committee, and Craig Wilkinson, is an experienced scale-up investor, and NED.

Its Commercial Director Kirsty Taylor works alongside sales specialists Greg Levens (UK) and Andy Boughey (Export), who have a history of driving UK and international growth at Diageo and Treasury Wines. Our consultant Whiskymaker, Dhavall Gandhi, joined from The Macallan in 2016.

CFO David Robinson has overseen multiple investments and debt deals since joining from Deloitte in 2017, and Alison Gilbert leads on our promise to value people, having led HR at one of the UK’s largest foodservice companies.