Every Monday, we ask small businesses key questions. Here we speak to Gordon Quinn, managing director of Badachro Distillery in Gairloch.
How and why did you start in business?
Out of necessity. My wife, Vanessa, and I were determined to live in Badachro and self-employment was the only credible means of doing so. We started a B&B, then a micro-restaurant, added a self-catering cottage and eventually fell into distilling.
How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Edinburgh, where I went to school and university. My first ‘proper’ job was selling advertising for The Scotsman, after which I worked for advertising agencies in Edinburgh, London and the Middle East on brands including Pepsi, Peugeot, Audi, Emirates and Davidoff.
Vanessa and I met in the Badachro Inn. She had first visited on a school trip from Germany, returning on holiday every year thereafter, while I had been hillwalking in the area for years. We met, fell in love, and married 12 weeks later. Then, after working oversees, we returned to Badachro to raise our family whilst running our B&B.
We had spare time in the winter, an interest in whisky and a liking for gin, and the Badachro Distillery sounded like a fun, scalable adventure.
It was supposed to stay small, but five years on here we are, with gins, vodka and single malt whiskies selling in 14 countries. Sales of our new Dancing Puffin Vodka are rocketing.
A lot of it’s down to our sales missions to North America, Bermuda, India, the Far East, and all over Europe and especially Germany, where Vanessa grew up.
Who helped you?
We funded the business entirely from our own resources for the first two years, but we were also greatly encouraged by friends and family.
Tony Reeman-Clark, who owned Strathearn Distillery, gave us lots of advice and even sold us our first still (which had been his first still). The FSB has helped us become more professional and secure in our business practices. Winning the FSB Scotland ‘Exporter of the Year Award’ brought us lots of publicity and a sense of pride and achievement – the UK Final’s on May 5.
A cliché perhaps, but our staff – we employ a team of eight – all go above and beyond whenever required. Without them there would be no business.
But more than anyone else there’s Vanessa – my wife and founding co-director – without whom none of this would have happened.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever had?
Make sure you enjoy the ride, because life is not a rehearsal!
What is your biggest mistake?
Not starting the distillery years earlier, and being persuaded by a previous business partner (and national water-ski champion) that water-ski jumping is easy. My leg was in plaster for months and I suffered significant pain and inconvenience!
What is your greatest achievement?
Persuading Vanessa to marry me so quickly, raising two happy, healthy, smart kids, and starting our distillery business. It would also have been exporting our Dancing Puffin Vodka to Russia, were it not for Putin’s madness.
How is your business managing rapidly rising costs, and what should government do to help?
Rising costs have significantly impacted on our profitability and on our ability to reinvest to grow. Borrowing rates are high, so subsidised loans from government would help.
The Scottish Government should focus on the essential building blocks of a successful country – education, health, the economy – and pause important but lower priority measures like the appalling DRS and proposed alcohol advertising ban.
What do you still hope to achieve?
The relocation of the business from our garden to a more appropriate site nearby, and continued growth so that we can create more quality, full time jobs in our area and secure the company as an asset for our children’s futures.
What do you do to relax?
Walk, play with my wife’s two ponies, occasionally sail (friends’ yachts) or go to the fantastic Badachro Inn.
What are you currently reading, listening to or glued to on TV?
Watching – Succession and Yellowstone; Listening – Corto Alto (a brilliant young Glasgow-based Jazz collective); Reading – Barack Obama’s autobiography.
What do you waste your money on?
Eating out and, though not a waste, helping my kids.
What’s the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
Look at my phone and make a cuppa for Vanessa after letting the dogs out.
What do you drive and dream of driving?
An old Land Rover Defender – but I’d love a Porsche Cayenne Hybrid.
