Since Ellen Wakelam and Alex Jungmayr founded In the Welsh Wind distillery in a converted cowshed in January 2018 the business has gone from strength to strength and now employs 15 staff, making award-winning gins both under the ‘In the Welsh Wind’ brand and for other brands and businesses as far afield as Japan. They are pioneering whisky made entirely in Wales from locally grown barley. The way we operate allows us to create products with as little detriment to the planet as possible and shows how everyone is capable of doing a small amount to make a big difference.” In recent years we have seen fundamental shifts in both the hospitality industry and in consumer preferences. Large parts of the hospitality industry have been suffering from the burden of expensive rents and high levels of capital expenditure, discount offerings, increased food prices and a shift to home delivery, all of which have been accelerated by Covid-19. At the same time, consumer preferences – in particular those of millennials – are shifting away from mid-market hospitality chains to experience-led, quality nights out in unique, local style venues.

I am a very proud Indian woman. Born and raised in South Mumbai, my dad is Gujarati and my mum was Maharashtrian. During the twelve years spent working in this industry, I’ve only ever come across a handful of BAME women and I’m yet to come across any female Indian retail entrepreneurs. I’m passionate about inspiring others, and representation is an important part of that. I hope to inspire other women who look like me and have an entrepreneurship dream. My door (and DMs!) is always open for budding female entrepreneurs to reach out.”

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Carmen: My main piece of advice would be to seek out sounding boards and not be afraid to ask for advice or help. I’ve always been passionate about the benefits of knowledge-sharing and collaboration. Gone are the days of people elbowing each other out of the way, there’s much more support from colleagues and peers now – someone’s success doesn’t mean someone else’s failure. 🙌 Carmen O’Neal, founder, 58 and Co, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to unveil our new brand, which we feel truly represents our values, approach and future direction.” So as the days get longer and warmer, and your mind turns to barbecues, outdoor eats and enjoying meeting up with friends and family this spring and summer, give this juicy new refreshing cider a try!

It has rolled out new-look house gin and vodka bottles for hospitality venues, with eco-friendly refill pouches available. Meanwhile, a spirit refill service – hosted at a front-of-house distillery shop counter – will be a key component of planned upgrades to its premises, located beneath the railway arches in Haggerston. Carmen O’Neal, founder of 58 and Co. Archie Rose has a strong ethos around supporting local producers and growers, a penchant for innovative collaborations, along with team members with strong ties to the Hunter Valley grape harvest write‐off due to Australia’s devastating 2019/2020 bushfires,” said Will Edwards, Archie Rose founder. “We therefore conceived the idea of a series of brandy‐related spirits to assist growers who suffered significant crop and income loss as a result of bushfire smoke taint.” Marc McGuigan continues: “The No and Low market is only going to grow in popularity as consumers demand more choice. It’s important for us as an award-winning brewery to ensure we’re part of this growing trend and create innovative products we know our customers are going to love. Goram IPA Zero fits into our drinks portfolio perfectly and adds a new dimension to our offering.” With sales not yet returning to the pre pandemic days we hope to grow a loyal customer base, as a company they firmly believe in promoting responsible drinking and find that delivering remarkable flavour profiles from an honest gin you are likely to drink less. We have always believed that we have a responsibility to operate in a way which goes beyond simply offsetting our carbon footprint but which contributes to a better future for the next generation,” she explains.Determined to bring his gin to market, Mark called his spirit 58 Gin, after his house number. He also had an idea for the logo. Australian producer Archie Rose Distilling Co is located in Rosebery, Sydney, just 5km from the Hunter Valley wine region, and has gathered a keen following for its portfolio of whisky, gin, vodka, rum and limited edition bottlings. Spurred by the company’s ethos of supporting local producers, Archie Rose was inspired to partner with eight smaller growers in the Pokolbin, Broke Fordwich and Upper Hunter sub‐regions of Hunter Valley, and bought more than 50 tonnes of tainted grapes to create Archie Rose Hunter Valley Shiraz Spirit.