Bob Gorton

Old St Andrews looking stateside

A firm specialising in spirits expects to increase export sales by 30 per cent within the next year, after signing a new £200,000 deal with a US distributor - just four years after it faced ruin.

Old St Andrews, based in Sevenoaks, designs, bottle and distributes premium alcohol brands, including whisky and gin which now have such global appeal that the company make 90 per cent of its sales from overseas orders, with its turnover now more than £1m.

“We’ve just signed up our latest distributor in New Jersey as a direct result of an UKTI market visit last Autumn,” said managing director Bob Gorton, “The first annual contract is worth $300,000 (£200,000) but we expect this figure to double as sales roll out across the States.”

Working closely with UKTI South East International Trade Adviser Terry Dunk, Gorton has seen the business grow between 20-40 per cent annually, over the last four years, thanks to its export sales across many markets via more than 30 worldwide distributors.

Yet only four years ago the company was on the brink of bankruptcy before being bought out by Gorton, who was then a local business adviser. He saw potential in the company, but decided the business needed a change of direction to target the high-end of the whisky and gin markets.

Gorton said: “The British brand is very much associated with credibility and quality, so our product very much caters to this, with our unusual golf ball-shaped bottle for our Scottish whisky product and our diamond-shaped gin bottles.

“These are very memorable products and stand out from the crowd.

“However, as a small business, we have very little time and money to market ourselves or test market our product, which is why going on various UKTI-led market visits has been invaluable to help us get to where we are today.

“We’ve found having face-to-face meetings abroad virtually guarantees business. You can target the right people and qualify their level of interest via initial emails and phone calls, before flying out to meet them to discuss the finer details and convince them of the product.”