A pair of scientists have struck gold with their new distillery project.
Two scientists who were made redundant have bounced back to form and run one of Kent’s 
most vibrant and innovative new businesses – a distillery.
Andy Reason and Norman Lewis ended their career at GlaxoSmithKline in 2010 and immediately embarked on the journey towards owning their own distillery, reports Kent News. After spending plenty of time waiting for licences, suitable premises and to master their own techniques, they are now up and running and the signs are good.
Based in Marden, near Maidstone, Anno Distillery is used as a site to make gin, although the duo have plans to extend the range of beverages that will be produced there in the coming months. Indeed, a summer drink is next on the agenda, while there are also plans for whisky and flavoured vodkas.
All of the ingredients used to produce the gin are sourced within Kent, emphasising how Mr Reason and Mr Lewis are inspired by their surroundings.
“It was part of our thinking that we had a lot of scientific skills built up over the years of taking small processes and scaling them up for manufacturers,” explained Mr Reason.
“The idea of starting something similar and getting to large scale was not frightening to us, and we have been using our skills to formulate our gin. So we started by doing a lot of small scale distillations to understand how the flavours came through in the gin.”
Neither of the men had any desire to go into consulting, which is the most common path for those scientists who are made redundant. Instead, they wanted to spend time together working on a project they truly loved and was close to home.
What’s more, their considerable success could give confidence to others that starting a business in Kent can be a good idea.
The men initially planned to create and sell whisky, but once they had done their sums they realised this did not make as sound business sense as choosing gin. One of the main obstacles to whisky in the early days of the business was the fact it has to be kept for three years before it can be sold.
Although they finished work at GlaxoSmithKline in 2010, it was not until the very end of 2012 that they received their still – which they have aptly named Patience. It then took until March 2013 for them to receive the necessary licences, meaning production only began in October.
Mr Reason explained they spent the time waiting for the thumbs-up researching the history of some of the drinks they planned to produce and testing and picking many of the ingredients they use today.
The rise of microbreweries has been well documented in recent years after the UK followed in America’s footsteps in adopting the trend, and the fact the US has already taken small scale distilleries to its heart gives them hope the same will occur in Britain.
Original story from Locate in Kent
To find out more about Anno Distillery, click here
