#081 CVIRUS SPECIAL - Rupert Holloway - Conker Spirit

This is the week where Rishi has given much of the industry a further life line by extending the furlough scheme through to October. Though we wait nervously for the details of the ‘joint’ funding he mentioned from August onwards and wether our sector may qualify for further support once the scheme is removed for much of the country.

Today’s guest is Rupert from Conker Spirit, a gin distiller in Bournemouth. I’ve seen a number of distilleries moving into the sanitiser market and I really wanted to find out more about how and why. I think it demonstrates again the creative versatility of people in hospitality and is a great example of another business pivot.

Rupert and I chat about some of the technicalities of shifting from booze to sanitiser, such as how to get the HMRC onboard so you don’t have to pay £25 in duty per litre of sanitiser produced, and actually the speed the HMRC moved on that I think reflects further positive efforts behind the scenes from the government to try and get the private sector to support the public sector as much as possible, through things like sanitiser as well as PPE and feeding our key workers.

We also touch on the very crowded space of craft distillers and who will and will not survive this crisis and what trade may look like on the other side, as well as a couple of other positive pivots Rupert has seen, such as sleep packs for nurses.