Micro gin distillery with a small shop
Make small-batch gin in your own unit and sell it to local shops, bars and visitors.
- £40k-150k
- Full-time
- Own premises
- Licence or permit needed
Estimates for a small start in the UK, not guarantees.
Official data
701 active UK companies have “gin” in their name, 17% registered since 2024
Name search “company names containing “gin””. Source: Companies House, November 2026.
What it is
A small distillery in a rented unit or farm building, with a copper or stainless still of a few hundred litres at most. You develop your own recipes using juniper and local botanicals, then bottle, label and sell the gin. A small tasting area or shop is a common extra.
Your first three steps
- Visit a few small distilleries, take a short distilling course and test a first recipe in small batches
- Contact HMRC about the approval needed to distil and ask your council about planning and premises licensing for your chosen unit
- Draw up a budget covering still, bottling, labels and duty, then price quotes from still makers and designers
Who pays
Local delis, farm shops, pubs, bars and restaurants, gift buyers, visitors to your distillery, and online customers.
How it makes money
Sales of bottles direct to customers (usually the best margin), wholesale to shops and venues, and optional extras such as tastings, tours or gift sets.
Skills that help
- Careful, repeatable production
- Creative recipe development
- Selling and building local relationships
- Record keeping for duty and stock
Watch out for
- You need HMRC approval to distil, and alcohol duty must be accounted for, so check the current rules before buying any equipment
- Selling to other businesses may need registration under HMRC's Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme, so check
- Selling to the public on site or at tastings needs a premises licence and usually a personal licence holder, and rules differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland
- Labelling, strength and 'gin' naming rules apply, so check with Trading Standards
- Fire and explosion risks from alcohol vapour, plus planning, change of use, insurance and business rates for the unit
- High upfront costs and slow cash flow while stock is made and sold
Deep research report · UK
Everything you need to start: micro gin distillery with a small shop
Researched with live web search for United Kingdom: real startup prices, the licences and rules, what others charge, a break-even example, how to find your first customers and a 30-day launch plan. With sources.
- Startup costs with real prices
- Licences, registration and rules
- Pricing: what others charge
- Break-even example
- Finding your first customers
- 30-day launch plan
- Risks and how to reduce them
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