Distillery with tasting room and tours

Local visitors, tourists, gift buyers and groups booking experiences, plus bars and shops buying wholesale.

Tour and tasting tickets, bottle sales in your own shop, merchandise, and wholesale to the trade. Direct sales usually carry better margins than wholesale.

• Hosting and customer service
• Spirit production and product knowledge
• Marketing and bookings
• Managing staff and stock

• Distilling needs HMRC approval and excise duty must be accounted for, check requirements early
• Serving or selling alcohol on site usually needs a premises licence and a personal licence holder, check with your council
• Planning permission and change of use for visitor access, check with your council
• Fire safety, public liability and product liability insurance, and employer's liability once you hire
• Visitor numbers can be seasonal, so plan for quieter months

Startup costs are typically around £80,000 to £350,000, depending on your premises, equipment and how you set up the visitor space and shop. These are estimates, so get your own quotes before committing.

Monthly revenue is typically around £6,000 to £30,000, depending on visitor numbers, bottle sales and wholesale orders. These are estimates, not guarantees. Visitor numbers can be seasonal, so plan for quieter months.

Things to check include HMRC approval for distilling and excise duty, a premises licence and personal licence holder from your council, planning permission and change of use for visitor access, fire safety, and insurance including employer's liability once you hire.