Market Harborough distillery brings in industry pioneer Sion

Sion Edwards who joined the team at Union Distillers in Market Harborough as General Manager earlier this summer, has already introduced innovative practices to improve productivity and increase capacity to produce more spirits.

The Harper Adams graduate has also taken with him knowledge from his previous roles at Warner Edwards and Langley Distillery, where he worked with brands such as Bacardi and Campari.

He said: “The first thing I looked at when I started was increasing productivity.

“Having worked in fresh produce, I have brought that production element into the business and am taking lots of little steps towards improving an already very successful business.”

One of the steps Sion has taken is buying a new bottling machine and larger stills.

Union Distillers, which was founded in 2013 develops, distils and bottles bespoke spirits on behalf of brands and independent retailers such as Fortnum & Mason.

While its signature brand, Two Birds Spirits, will still be distilled in small batches of 100 bottles, the larger stills have a capacity of up to 300 litres, more than trebling the current productivity rate.

“Every small distillery is making one-shot spirits - it’s very easy to do,” Sion added. “It’s a far better and more traditional method to distil concentrate spirits and by doing so, you get a much more consistent flavour and I’d like to explore that further.”