Halewood Wines & Spirits changes names to reflect premium spirit focus

UK drinks producer Halewood Wines & Spirits is changing its name to reflect a growing focus on its premium spirits lines.

The company, whose brands includes Whitley Neil gin, Liverpool Gin, Lambrini sparkling wine, and Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer, is changing the name to Halewood Artisinal Spirits.

It is also opening a new distillery in Russia, on the back of a £5m investment, which will produce and bottle its J.J. Whitley Vodka portfolio. 

Group CEO Stewart Hainsworth said the move was a  big step forward for its artisanal spirits offering and would enhance the provenance and quality of the range.

“It enables us to offer truly authentic vodka which is distilled in one of Russia’s most historic cities, using superlative quality Russian grain and water.”

It will also be the first British-owned vodka distillery in Russia.

The change comes less than a month after the company announced it was closing its head office and a 30-acre bottling facility as a result of the impact of Covid-19. Thishad particularly affected its carbonated drinks arm, which had become less profitable. It confirmed the bottling of Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer would be moving to another manufacturing site in Chorley, and Lambrini might be outsourced to a contract packer.

At the time, Hainsworth said the company remained committed to its ongoing strategy of building a range of premium artisanal spirits with strong provenance.

It follows the reduction of its UK and Australian workforce by around 15% in March, the closure of its Miami-based US arm and the introduction of volunary redundancies and paycuts.