UK – Kingsland Drinks, a premier independent UK supplier of wine and spirits, has partnered with Manchester Still to install a new fermentation and distillation facility adjacent to its site in Irlam, Salford.

The project will give Kingsland Drinks Group and sister company, Ten Locks, the ability to produce artisan spirits.

Set to be completed this month, the new facility will also be the manufacturing site for Manchester Still’s premium brands.

Manchester Still, founded by Dr. Sam Rowley-Neale and Dr. Michael Down, is a producer of cocktail ingredients including an offer of spiced, coconut, and white rums. 

The company noted that it employs scientific methods to create delicious artisan spirits, that come in small batches and are of premium brands, in northwest England.

The partners are also building an agile facility, focused on the development of premium, innovative spirits and non-alcoholic beverages that will appeal to mixologists, bartenders, and consumers.

The investment is said to enable both businesses to meet the growing demand for contract distilling and collaborate with partners across the on and off trade, to create bespoke craft spirits.

Together, the companies are planning for a pipeline of spirits under the new product development (NPD) agenda, with a new release from Ten Locks expected this summer.

Andy Sagar, Chairman of Kingsland Drinks Group, commented: “The partnership is a well-planned and executed next step in our growth strategy and sustained investment pipeline.

“We’re proudly creating crafts spirits shoulder to shoulder with Manchester Still. This is the coming together of two northern companies to firmly cement Greater Manchester’s growing reputation as a hive of innovation in the drinks industry.”

This merge move comes at a time when the global craft spirits market is expected to pick its pace driven by a rise in demand for craft spirits and an increase in the number of craft distilleries, and rising disposable incomes.

Grand View Research, a market research firm, projects the global craft spirits market size valued at US$13.23 billion in 2021 to expand at a CAGR of 28.3% from 2022 to 2030.

In recent years Kingsland Drinks Group has been making aggressive investments in its production facility to upgrade and strengthen its portfolio presence in the markets.

The investment enabled the company to install new canning, bag-in-box, and carbonation manufacturing lines and reinstated its onsite winery.

Alongside this, the company has introduced a new high-speed bottling line and expanded its NPD capabilities with a new laboratory focused on future thinking and insights-driven product development.

In addition, it has also upgraded its capacity to bottle spirits and package new and emerging formats.   

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