82. Craft Gin Club

Founders: Jon Hulme and John Burke
Founded: January 2015
Website: www.craftginclub.co.uk

Recently identified as one of the hottest business opportunities of 2016, the gin industry is flourishing with a number of start-ups muscling in on the trend – the Craft Gin Club being one of them.

Launched in January 2015 by Jon Hulme and John Burke, Craft Gin Club enables home drinkers to discover the best craft gin producers from around the world through its membership-based subscription boxes which deliver one bottle of the finest quality gin a month.

Hulme and Burke decided to embark on the venture after noticing the explosion of craft alcohol producers and the need for a service that would enable “gin lovers to discover the best”.

Using their backgrounds in media, marketing and events, the duo have driven demand for the service by combining content marketing with active engagement on social media and it’s a strategy that’s working. Less than 18 months since launch, the start-up has secured over 3,300 paying members and amassed a community of fans with 50,000 newsletter sign-ups and over 105,000 Facebook likes.

Having scaled with no external funding and just one employee to date, Hulme and Burke are now looking to raise investment to accelerate growth by hiring staff and investing in IT. The alcohol entrepreneurs are also keen to branch out into new areas and have just launched their second vertical, the Bubble Club. Targeted at ‘lovers of all things fizz’, the Bubble Club will operate under a similar subscription model whereby members receive two bottles of fizz and “surprise tasty treats” every month. Bottoms, or rather bottles, up!