Fire fuels growth and resilience for Masons Gin
Five years ago a distillery fire devastated the award-winning Masons of Yorkshire business. Today the business is back and stronger than ever.
The distillery near Bedale in Yorkshire was completely destroyed by the fire in April 2019. Originally created by Karl and Cathy Mason in 2013, at the time the business was thriving and planning to expand. Both were working full time running the distillery with a staff of 25.
Karl Mason, director of Masons Gin commented: “It’s not something you can really plan for, a fire on the scale we had. We didn’t have contingency measures in place but we had a team of staff who just responded with such a great determination to have us up and running, we were making gin within three weeks.”
Now:
Today the business is at the forefront of the blossoming English gin ‘boom’.
Determined to build back stronger, at the end of 2019 they leased a brand-new building on an industrial estate just outside Bedale which was kitted out with a distillery, laboratory, events space, bar, offices and dispatch area.
They took the opportunity the fire brought to invest in more modern stills than were at their previous premises and added space for an experimental distillation facility in their laboratory.
By March the following year they’d also launched a special limited edition gin, Phoenix, which donated money from each bottle sold to the Fire Fighters Charity – a way of saying thank you to this vital emergency service.
Just weeks after the new facility opened, the business faced another crisis as the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to shut its doors to the public just a week later.
Once again the business adapted and focused on online sales to survive the hospitality industry shutdown.
Karl explained: “Going into Covid after finally being operational in our new site after the fire went smoothly. The team were used to adversity and responded brilliantly. Then as soon as the call went out for hand sanitiser from distilleries, we decided on day one we would donate it free for all non-commercial use as a way of giving back after all the help we had received previously.
“Now operating in fantastic new facility in what is possibly one of the hardest economic periods for a generation we can say we have been through fire, pestilence and economic disaster. We have had amazing support from local business, our local MP and what was Hambleton District Council. We run tours, food evenings and supply gin to the biggest retailers in the UK and are now available in three airports duty-free. Gin is no longer as fashionable as it once was, but the brand who have put the hard work in and have great drinks are surviving while the smaller, perhaps trend chasers are starting to fall away. 2025 might yet have some surprises but our team are ready for it.
“We owe our continued progress to having a great team, we do have a continuation plan now in case of a similar disaster but never forget the importance of those working with you, they have the biggest impact.”
To find out more about how your business can become more resilient and ready for any emergency use the Yorkshire Ready Together conversational tool.
