Craft56 was set up in October last year by Ally Hardy to promote Scottish craft drinks. Specialising in gin, the retailer works with independent, small-batch producers to offer a wide selection of Scottish craft spirits in its online bottleshop.

Name: Ally Hardy

Age: 32

Position: Director

WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?

Craft56

WHERE IS IT BASED?

Glasgow 

WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
I ALWAYS worked for SMEs in Glasgow in digital marketing roles. I wanted to set up my own business but I didn’t know what to do. In New York I was in a bar and bottle shop that imports bitters all round the world with lots from Scotland. I discovered there were no websites pushing Scottish products. We wanted to promote what’s happening in Scotland and create a website for small batch independent Scottish products. It was born through my passion for Scotland.

We stock a range of gins and spirits that are hard to get. We don’t stock anything you can buy in a supermarket. We managed to ship the same day and we do next day delivery too so it’s a good experience for customers. We promote Scottish provenance and handle couriers for the brands.

We define Scottish gin as made by a Scottish-based company making the product in Scotland. Contact distilling is fine as long as production and distillation is in Scotland. We don’t have a climate that can support botanicals in Scotland so they can be brought in. Scottish gin is in no way protected like Scottish whisky is but there are movements in place for that to happen.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
WE have the Scottish element. Now other companies are doing that but they are not as strict on provenance. Where we can help our brands is with digital marketing experience. We work with brands to offer what competitors can’t. We also organise our own series of festivals and events. A lot of these events can be prohibitive in terms of cost. Small brands can get lost in a sea of larger companies that get larger stands at events. Our events are much smaller scale which is better for engagement, we only invite the brands we stock on the website and try to keep costs down. Brands can sell bottles but also drinks on the day. This is important as they can play about with mixers and garnishes. Producers sell more than if they were just selling bottles. None of our competitors have that element of their events. We are also the only fully Scottish gin club. Deliveries are monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly. The subscription box also comes with handmade chocolates infused with gin of the month and we work with Glasgow artists for the bottle design and Bon Accord Soft Drinks for mixers.

WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
WE want to target as wide a range of people as possible. We were just shipping in the UK but now we ship to 22 European countries. Germany is the biggest growth market for gin in Europe. Spain and Portugal are big too. In the future we would like to ship to America, Canada and Australia as well. Scotland carries such a brand around alcohol and Scottish gin could become the new Scottish whisky. Lots of people say they don’t like gin but actually they don’t like tonic so we try to encourage them to pair gin with different mixers – it’s good with ginger ale for example. Gin can also be used in cocktails and gin hot toddies which make it more versatile than people think.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
GOING out and meeting different brands. People have started these companies from their kitchen and it has expanded from their. There’s a buzz when you see a new product launch when you know it has been made by hand.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
TEN years is a long time, especially with Brexit. We want to become the go to place to buy Scottish craft spirits as gifts. We are heavily focused on gin which is where the marker is so we need to move with the trends. People say the next trend is rum. The idea started in a bar and bottle shop in New York so my vision is to have a bar and bottle shop in Glasgow or somewhere else in Scotland.

We have a website and run events at the moment but I would love to see us with a bricks and mortar store with Scottish produced food and alcohol.