Food Manufacture can reveal that the Manchester-based drinks business, which has around 50 employees, has entered into administration.
Insolvency and recovery form, Clark Business Recovery, has been appointed.
Drinks of Manchester which trades under several names, including the Spirit of Manchester and Manchester Gin was incorporated on 14 December 2015 by couple Jen and Seb Heeley-Wiggins.
In 2016, they launched their first brand Manchester Gin, with 2019 seeing The Spirit of Manchester Distillery opening with a distilling capacity of 1 million bottles annually. That year also saw the launch of Sphere Vodka and cocktail bar and restaurant, Three Little Words, which has now shuttered its doors.
In 2021, the drinks SME introduced its rum One-Eyed Rebel and expanded with the opening of its own storage and bottling facility. This year, the business bottled its first One Point Six whisky brand after three years of maturation.
According to its latest Companies House accounts (year ended 31 March 2023), between 2022-2023, the business has seen its fixed assets fall from approximately £1.1 million to £1 million – a drop of 7.5%.
Its net current assets stand at £119k. The beverage producer’s total equity is around £736k, having dropped from £1 million since the year prior.
‘A heartbreaking decision’
Commenting, Jen Heeley-Wiggins told Food Manufacture: “Seb and I made the heartbreaking decision to close what we wanted to be our forever home in the city centre, but with spiralling costs and the challenges on hospitality currently, it became not possible to continue with such a huge space which was mainly taken up by our cocktail bar.
“It’s a really distressing time for all of us, and the staff, and it was incredibly sad to close the doors for the last time in August.
“Seb and I will continue to make our spirits in Manchester but it will just be the two of us, exactly how we started and grew the brand 10 years ago.”
Hard times for spirits
As reported in our exclusive drinks report (see alcohol chapter), the spirits category has been hit hard.
Whilst RTD spirits and cocktails are in growth, spirits in more traditional forms are the worst hit category within alcoholic drinks. The decline is volume driven, with only low and no spirits in volume growth.
Whisky is the biggest category in terms of volume and value sales. Still, compared to last year it is seeing a decline in both areas.
At a higher average volume price, the spirits category has been most impacted by the cost of living. Decline is volume driven and looking to be accelerating.
Gin in particular has especially suffered, seeing a -13.7% decline in volume sales on the year. It has also endured the most range reductions; well beyond other categories at -13.1%.
Food Manufacture has also approached Clark Business Recovery for a comment.
