At 24, Tarquin Leadbetter moved from desk work in London to the North Cornwall Coast, where he made gin in the morning and planned to surf in the afternoon. He learned from the internet to distill gin in his home rice cooker.
Thirteen years later, Leadbetter is running a £10 million business, with over 50 staff and seven gin shops in Devon and Cornwall. Available at Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and John Lewis, Tarquin’s Gin is available in over 30 countries. After starting as a gin distillery, the business diversified and produced rum, vodka and whiskey. Twin Finrums are sold in Europe and Canada, while Connie Glaze Vodkas are sold in Europe, particularly Germany, and Tiner Bros Whiskey was launched in the UK in March.
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Born: August 1987, Devon, Torquay
Education: D’Overbroeck’s, Oxford. Level A: Mathematics, History, Geography, Economics (2003-05)
University of Bristol, BSC Economics and Politics (2006-09)
WSET Spirits Certificate, London (2011)
Career: Emerging Markets Analyst, London (2010)
Barjob at Notting Hill Pub serves Thai food (2011)
How to Get Started with Micro Distillery (2012)
The first bottle of Tarquin’s Gin was sold at Gurnard’s Head Pub near Land’s End (July 2013)
Talkin’s Gin won the world’s best gin at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2017)
Life: Cornwall, Cornwall, Southwest London over the weekend with his wife Courtney and two young children
How did you start your business?
My original plan was to set up a quick service Thai restaurant chain, but I wanted to live near the sea. I’ve always loved food and drinks and gained experience in the industry during my gap year. This was a chalet host at the French ski resort in Courtevel, using the skills learned in the Cordon Bleu course.
After that, of course, I began working at Business Monitor International, Financial Services Researcher, responsible for analyzing the economic and political systems of Venezuela and Colombia. However, I left a year later, returned to the food and drink industry, working at Notting Hill Pub, which serves Thai food for six months. At the same time, I wrote about the business plan for a Thai restaurant chain. However, I quickly realized that I wasn’t in the capital area I needed to start a restaurant.
As a barman, I have learned that although there are many small beer and wine producers, most of the spirit brands are owned by three multinational companies. This drew me to the idea of you starting a microdistiller where you commercially create a spirit, but creating a spirit on a small scale. I started a gin distillery and found it rewarding to create unique products with my own recipes. The advantage of making gin is that it can be produced in a few days, unlike whiskey, which has to age for three years.
Are you surprised by your success?
yes. I exceed my predictions and expectations for business. I only had £50,000 inheritance to start a venture so I had to be creative. I was experimenting with gin recipes and writing my own 5-year business plan for the distillery. My friend thought I was crazy, especially when I started working with cows I converted.
My sister, Athens, is a certified public accountant and helped me with bookkeeping. She was the business’s finance manager for the first few years, but she pitched everything. She is no longer active in the company, but remains a shareholder.
Was business a rewarding experience?
I think I’m doing the best job in the world, so yes. I can live and work in the sea. I work with a great team in a fun industry and love testing new recipes. The best thing to sell as a limited edition.
I enjoy making gin for local celebrity chef Rick Stein. This is a great way to celebrate the best Cornwall. Our mission is to bring Cornwall slices into the world.
Summer is the best time to see sales increase for tourists. Sales in July and August accounted for 25% of annual sales.
What was your worst business experience?
I think it had to be in 2015 when my glass supplier said we didn’t have stock of our bottles and would be like that for three months. I thought my business would be shut down. The French manufacturer said it was what they called buffer stocks. So the amount I sold was very small and it wasn’t important to their production plans.
I had to be my best friend to call all the glass wholesalers in France and ask if my bottles were still in stock. It wasn’t very appealing, but I had to buy a similar look, but I was able to continue supplying it to my customers. I lost more sleep than I could have spent at the time, but I never thought this would be a problem. It never happened to me that you could run out of bottles.
Are you good at personal finance?
I’m fine with personal finance. I don’t do that much. In 2021 we bought a house in southwest London. I commute every week to work from London to Cornwall. My wife’s job is in London.
We budget household expenses and family expenses together each month. I have a small amount in the ISA. At this stage in my life, together with young children, we are considering saving for school fees.
I have the same pension as my employees. There’s nothing more. But our biggest asset is business. We are continually reinvesting the company’s profits.
I consider this to be a first generation family business that wants to pass on to my children. We have never used external investors and have never used profits to maintain profits and expand our business.
How important is non-alcoholic gins in today’s market?
It is a rapidly growing and extremely exciting area of the drinks industry. People come to our stores every day and want non-alcoholic gins. I spent three years on a recipe for non-alcoholic takin gin, which was released in December 2024. It was early on, but could account for 10% of sales by the end of the year.
How has inflation affected your business?
After Covid, some raw materials such as cardboard and glass have increased by 50% following the increase in energy costs in 2022. It took a year for these costs to fall. Managing short-term price shocks as small businesses was difficult and they had to absorb the costs. You can only increase the price of gin by a few percent per year. Otherwise, the customer will go elsewhere.
What are your views on the October budget?
Our costs have increased by over £200,000 due to increased wages, business rates, excise taxes and waste packaging costs. I hope for a more business-friendly policy in the future.
Would you like to give back to the community?
The company has been supporting Cornwall Wildlife Trust since 2015. One percent of vodka brand Connie Glaze’s sales are focused on supporting the nearby-based environmental charity Beach Guardian, and keeping local beaches clean. Through our rum brand, Twin Fin, we support the Cornwall Seal Sanctuary in Gweek, near the Lizard Peninsula. As a Cornwall employer, I am proud to be able to support the community.
