“We owe a lot to Chiswick” says Sipsmith co-founder Sam Galsworthy

Sipsmith co-founder Sam Galsworthy

Sipsmith – a global brand with a Chiswick base

Sipsmith has been in Chiswick as long as The Chiswick Calendar has been running – 12 years this year. So I have watched with interest as in that time the gin distillery has made a stratospheric rise to become a global presence, been sold to a Japanese owned multinational, and been forced to deal with the catastrophic effects of first Brexit and then Covid.

There was a time not long ago when people were talking about a return to the Roaring Twenties, but after the boom, the spirits market has plummeted since we all took a good long look at ourselves after the pandemic and started to embrace a healthier lifestyle.

Sipsmith is now going “back to basics”, co-founder Sam Galsworthy told us, with the emphasis very much on telling their story, of a little artisan distillery in a residential street in Chiswick and providing an ‘experience’ for visitors rather than just something to drink.

The three founders, Sam, his childhood friend Fairfax Hall, and gin aficionado Jared Brown, are legends in the spirits world. They engineered a change in the law – no mean feat – to open the first new copper distillery in London since 1820, paving the way for a renaissance in the production of artisan gins.

Because of the deleterious effects of the spirit documented by that other great Chiswick resident William Hogarth, Parliament had put a stop to every man and his dog distilling the kind of stuff that will make you go blind in his bath tub and restricted its production to big companies with a still making more than 1,800 litres, which could be regulated.

Sam at the distillery in Cranbrook Road

A naive optimism that paid off

When Sam, Fairfax and Jared set out on their mission to create the best London Dry Gin, the Sipsmith three first had to petition Parliament to change the law.

“We are really proud of that”, he told me. “It was difficult. We had this naive optimism. We had quit our jobs and we had to make it work, but we are really proud that what we did has stimulated competition, brought revenue, exports and a change to people’s relationship with gin”.

Sam grew up with the idea of gin being something glamorous. He is the great, great, great nephew of Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore, after whom the Raffles hotel was called, where the Singapore Sling was invented in 1915.

“I remember my grandfather drinking martinis. It was something compelling, exciting, that represented sophistication”.

His first job was with Fuller’s, while Fairfax worked for Diageo. Sam had seen the growth of craft beers in American when he was working there. At the time gin drinking was out of fashion, but they thought they could create a market for it.

“We both downsized and sold our houses. It was more of a risk for Fairfax than for me. He was newly married with debt from business school and a wife who was pregnant”.

The gin boom

Once they set up in business, initially in Hammersmith, then in Cranbrook Road in Chiswick where they added two more stills, Patience and Constance to their first one Prudence, they were off to the races.

But so were their competitors. London went from having two distilleries – Beefeater and Thames – in 2007, to having 24 in 2017: Doghouse Distillery (SW8), Old Bakery Gin (N13), Boxer Gin (W10), Portobello Star (W11), East London Liquor Company (E3), City of London Distillery (EC4Y), and Bermondsey Distillery (Jensens Gin) among them.

In the space of two years more than 20 specialist gin-themed bars opened in London and at the peak of the gin boom Sipsmith was exporting to 50 or 60 countries.

I asked Sam if he could have envisaged when they were starting out just how successful they would become.

“Yes”, was his honest answer.

“Every entrepreneur has an optimist bias. Part of that is an imagination of what it might be. What was critical was being faces in a faceless industry. There was a lot of sweat and toil, burning through shoe leather; you’ve got to throw the kitchen sink at it, but you have to dream big – and then build it”.

Build it they did, to the point where they were getting interest from the big multinationals.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves visited the distillery in October last year

Becoming part of a multinational

It has now been ten years since they were bought out by Beam Suntory, who own more than 20 Scotch, Irish, American and Japanese whisky brands including Laphroaig, Teachers and Jim Beam, as well as rum, tequila, vodka and gin brands. They rebranded as Suntory Global Spirits in 2024.

It has also been ten years since Brexit, which Sam was always against.

“It really hit us. It was the wrong thing for a business like ours. It has been troublesome logistically and competitively. The continent opted to promote their own products. It was really painful”.

Would they have survived if they had not been under the umbrella of a multinational?

“Without question you need to be part of a big company. Thank God we got in with them at the right time. We needed to be part of a global company and Suntory are world class.

“They have held to their promise of being good at looking after people – faultless. They care as much about culture as we do. I had a rather closed mindset about how a global company could look culturally the same as we do, but they’ve been brilliant.

“They bought us outright. We wanted to keep the founders involved and wanted the brand kept the same. There was a gentlemen’s agreement that they were buying into this, and they wanted to nurture it. They love our philosophy and what we represent”.

The bar at the distillery

“We’ve always had an itch to scratch”

At this point presumably they could have retired to the countryside as wealthy men and put their feet up. Why didn’t they?

“We’ve always had an itch to scratch. The job’s not done. We had to ensure we delivered a brand fit for the future”.

Suntory have provided a security blanket through the downturn in beer and spirits sales. They also provided investment, so the distillery is much more sustainable than it used to be, using a lot less water and energy than it did.

“We now save 95% the water we used to use seven years ago”.

Sipsmith benefits from Suntory’s global distribution. One person markets all the Suntory brands, which makes it much more time efficient for those on the receiving end.

Any regrets about the relationship?

“I would love not to have let go of some of the markets we were in. They have let a lot go. Australia for example is no longer one of the places we sell to, as a result of rationalisation”.

The need to focus on core activities has been forced on the drinks industry, under pressure from the fallout from Covid. Sipsmith now sell to 20 or so countries, about a third of the number they sold to at their height.

“The market has contracted since Covid. It climbed at such an incline it was not sustainable. It plateaued and then contracted. Bars had too many brands. People’s relationship with spirits changed”.

Like Icarus, said Sam, they flew too close to the sun and are now paying the consequences.

The Supper Club

Supper Clubs

So what is the way forward for Sipsmith?

“Back to basics. Opening up the distillery to tell our story, having inherited 200 years of gin distilling history. When we came to the market the experience economy was just starting – people connecting emotionally with experiences”.

Since it opened its doors in Cranbrook Road in June 2014 Sipsmith has been offering tours of the distillery. Chiswick Calendar Club Card members benefit from the offer of a free tour: Sipsmith Club Card offer.

The distillery has been a member of our Club Card scheme since it started and as well as offering Club Card members free tours, also supplies free gin for our events.

Sipsmith has recently extend the hours it opens for tours and has launched its supper clubs with high end chefs creating meals with four or five courses.

READ ALSO: Sipsmith launches after-hours supper club at Chiswick distillery

“We owe a lot to Chiswick”, Sam told me. “So many people come on the tours, who want to come and learn. Chiswick has embraced us”.

Not everyone was happy when they applied to extend the hours for their tours, I ventured.

READ ALSO: Residents oppose Sipsmith’s application to extend licensing hours at its Chiswick distillery

“There has been barely a case of any material impact [on the neighbours] that has been brought to our attention. We have been pro-active in messaging people before they come on tours and reminding them that we are in a residential street.

“The supper clubs “are not a piss-up”, he stresses. They are far more classy than that.

They are also working on the next “big thing” which they hope will expand the market again. It will be interesting to see what they come up with next on the Sipsmith journey.