COLIN Campbell began his career in the drinks industry at The Herald, where he started a beer column. After leaving the newspaper he started working for drinks clients and he now promotes Ginerosity, which was set up in October 2016. The gin is made using 10 ethically sourced botanicals: juniper, coriander, angelica, lemon, lime, orange, lemon myrtle, heather, cardamom and cloves. However, it is a drinks brand with a difference as it pours all of its profits back into projects that help young people.
Name: Colin Campbell
Age: 41
Position: Brand manager
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
GINEROSITY.
WHERE IS IT BASED?
THE gin is created by Pickering’s Gin at Summerhall Distillery in Edinburgh. The base is central Scotland but we also cover Yorkshire, the Lake District, London and Inverness. We are having conversations on expanding into supermarkets as well.
WHY WAS THE BUSINESS SET UP?
IT was set up incredibly fast and was launched 100 days after the five directors came up with the idea. Within six months of that it got a supermarket listing. We aim to give employment opportunities to young people. A business has to cover its costs, so we got start-up support from the Jessica Fund. Social enterprise as a concept is growing and people are wanting to steer away from being a profit-grabbing business – we are part of that wave. The business landscape is changing and we are excited to be a part of that.
HOW DOES GINEROSITY HELP?
WE did have a partnership with Challenges Worldwide and while we still work with the charity, we are looking to not work with it exclusively anymore. We have supported young adults on trips to Ghana and Uganda.
We have also paid for seven young people to do a business qualification and we have taken on one of them, Dan Searle, as an ambassador this year. We primarily want to work with young people in the hospitality sector because it is an area where people get underpaid and the working conditions aren’t always the best. We like to think of it as the ripple effect – our funding is a small pebble in the water. We brought Dan to Edinburgh and gave him some hands-on training.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
THE gin market is extremely crowded and there are lots of big players with massive budgets. We are the only social enterprise gin in the world as far as I am aware. Our gin is something different and innovative. A social enterprise is still a business and it is subject to regulations and a lot of scrutiny into how we operate. Even though it is for a good cause it still has to make a profit. It’s a circle – we are supporting people and they in turn go on to support other people, so it goes back on itself. We funded Dan’s business qualification and he has come back to support us. No other gin companies are doing this.
The five directors all have their own unique skill sets. Dave Mullen is from Story UK and has gin experience. David Moore knows the industry very well, he set up Beer For Good – the UK’s only beer social enterprise. Chris Thewlis is a board member of Social Enterprise Scotland. We also work with Marcus Pickering and Matt Gammell, who are co-founders of Pickering’s Gin.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
OUR gin is stocked in Asda, Aldi, Scotmid and specialist retailers like The Good Spirits Co in Glasgow. We are negotiating to expand its growth and get the brand out there, but it takes ages.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
WHEN you get the reward of helping people. I remember the first time we got a nice email from a client and it was a total buzz. It can be quite touching because often people without a great deal of confidence get a massive boost from our funding.
Our mission is to help people and see the positive emotional effect it brings. We have also got involved with other social enterprises and we have seen a lot of businesses wanting to do good.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS?
WE want to see it become more successful and be regarded as a well-known national social enterprise brand. It’s a crowded marketplace and I’m wary of giving us a target because it is rather negative if you don’t meet it. However, we expect to see considerable growth – there’s interest from other countries so there’s no reason why it can’t export in the future.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here