WilliamsAli has supported The Lakes Distillery in securing funding from Beechbrook Capital. Beechbrook Capital is a specialist lender providing loans and minority equity capital into SMEs across the UK and Europe. Its investment into The Lakes Distillery represents the 6th investment from its UK SME Credit III fund.
Nestled on the shore of Bassenthwaite Lake, near Keswick, in The Lake District, The Lakes Distillery creates an exceptional collection of spirits and attracts over 30,000 visitors to their whisky distillery each year.
The funding comes at a time when the company is increasing its production of single malt whisky and is beginning to export the brand to major whisky markets such as USA, France, and Japan.
In September 2019, the brand unveiled The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.1, their first widely available single malt whisky in what has become an internationally award-winning series showcasing their sherry-led signature style. Earlier this year, The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No.4 was awarded the World’s Best Single Malt at the prestigious 2022 World Whisky Awards.
Twice named ‘one of eight distilleries to visit before you die’ by the World Whisky Day campaign, their visitor centre, bistro, and distillery tour has held Visit England’s Gold accolade since 2018 and was voted the Icons of Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year 2019 by Whisky magazine.
Abu said:
“It’s been a privilege to work with Nigel and David on this project and to support such an iconic brand on its future growth. Being an independent and well-connected corporate finance boutique means that we delivered this despite the challenging economic backdrop whilst also raising significant funding from Beechbrook, who were fantastic to work with. This is testament to the strength of the brand, the tenacity of the North East deals market and our in-house technical expertise.”
David Robinson, Chief Financial Officer at The Lakes Distillery said:
“This is another important step in our ongoing growth plans as we continue to deliver our ambitious strategy and create award winning products. We have received terrific support from Beechbrook who took such a positive approach to the deal together with the teams at WilliamsAli and Muckle, who helped us navigate and negotiate the fund raising. We appreciate the dedication of the teams in managing a smooth process throughout and delivering a successful transaction.”
WilliamsAli Corporate Finance worked closely with Louise Duffy, Partner at MuckleLLP to successfully deliver the deal.