Leamington-based gin company shifts to hand sanitiser production

A Leamington-based gin company is shifting its production to make hand sanitiser.

The Warwickshire Gin Company is preparing to develop its product range to support local health care providers and care homes by making hand sanitiser.

The business will be producing thousands of bottles of hand sanitiser, using denatured alcohol, to support organisations across the county during the coronavirus pandemic.

David Blick and partner Helena Harpham, known as Ellie, set up the company two years ago.

In January they moved into the Victoria Business Centre in Leamington, which is leased from The Arch Company.

To assist with production, The Warwickshire Gin Company is now expanding into an adjoining unit that offers three-times the floorspace and which The Arch Company has offered rent-free for 12 months.

David said: “We’re really grateful for the generous support our landlord has offered and delivered on.

"The new space will make a huge difference to our operation.

"The extra space means we can order and store our materials in bulk, helping us to streamline purchasing and the production process so that we have a steady flow going onto the production line, speeding up the entire process.

“Ellie and I are grateful that we are in a position to be able to help and although we haven’t produced hand sanitiser before, the process is about following specific processes and exact quantities of ingredients, which isn’t dissimilar to producing dry gin.

“We’ve worked really hard to get a supply chain in place and to source bottles or alternatives like pouches from all over the country so that we’re set up to produce high volumes.

"We’re looking to increase our production to make up to 200 bottles every hour to help meet demand.

"It’s been quite daunting, but seeing how pleased the recipients are when we deliver to them makes it really worthwhile.”

David delivered the first batch of 20 litres of his hand sanitiser to a local care provider recently and with more than 200 care homes within 15 miles of the distillery, there will be no let-up in demand.

Orders are rolling in already, after their first week, another 4,500 litres was already requested, and David expects to provide future deliveries to other local care homes, doctors’ surgeries and frontline workers including delivery drivers, the police, the fire service and the postal service.

For more information about The Warwickshire Gin Company go to: www.warwickshiregincompany.co.ukFor more information about The Arch Company go to: www.thearchco.com