Alex Robson and Howard
Raymond started West End Drinks as a tribute to Howard's late father, the
self-styled ‘King of Soho' Paul Raymond. But they also hit on a growing trend
towards drinking gin led by smaller drinks manufacturers. Nick Martindale reports
In recent years, the UK has seen an explosion in the gin market. According to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, a record 51 million bottles worth almost £1.4 billion were sold in 2017, equivalent to almost one per adult, while there are now more than 100 British gin brands; more than double the number that existed in 2011.
One of the more prominent of these newcomers is the distinctive King of Soho gin produced by West End Drinks, started back in 2013 by Alex Robson and property developer Howard Raymond. "At the time we weren't aware of what we were about to embark on, because the gin category has grown in a way that nobody could have expected," says Robson. "You could see there was a bit of a renaissance - there were new distillers popping up and the industry was becoming more premium - but I don't think anyone could have anticipated that between 2016 and 2017 UK sales would pass the £1 billion mark."
The business itself, as well as the name, was designed as a tribute to Howard's late father, Paul Raymond; who opened the UK's first strip bar - Raymond Revuebar - in Soho in 1958 and was founder of the famous pornography publisher which produces magazines such as Razzle, Escort, Club International, Mayfair and Men Only, known as the "King of Soho".
"He was such an interesting man and had such a sharp brain; it's really quite an honour to be working on a brand named after him, and I hope to do justice to that, not just in the quality of the product but about the lifestyle as well," says Robson, who runs the business on a day-to-day basis. "He knew how to have fun, not only for himself but also other people, whether it was the clubs, the bars or the magazines. Gin is about having fun with your mates so we hope we have reflected that."
The unique bottle design, which is screen-printed onto the product, is a testament to that. "We have the character of the man on the bottle and he reflects that Soho spirit," explains Robson. "You have that rich velvet coat which reflects the Bohemian fashion of the area, and he's holding a trumpet because Soho is a hive of music venues.
"We have the book which is a nod to Soho's long association with the creative industry, and then you have the fox's tail. Soho is a historic hunting ground so it's symbolic of that but also a fox is a naughty, enigmatic creature of the night and that reflects urban Soho today. It's a place where you go to have a bit of naughtiness and adventure. It's about enjoying life."
Appropriately, it was over a drink in a bar that the seeds for the King of Soho brand were sown in 2011. "I'd done a bit of consultancy work on some of Howard's projects, and we have known each other for 17 years now," she says. "It wasn't long after his father had died, and we were thinking what we could do to celebrate his life. My father had been a gin drinker too, so we researched it and spoke to people in the industry who were very supportive and we went from there."
Keep it in the family
Robson herself heralds from a long line of entrepreneurs. "I discovered the other day that my great, great grandmother was an entrepreneur and businesswoman in the 1800s," she says. "She set up a publishing business with my great, great grandfather in the mid-1800s and was an equal partner. She did the financial side and the planning, and I was quite shocked when I discovered that, because I always thought my mother was the first entrepreneur but it turns out we started a bit earlier in our family."
Her mother ran a printing and binding business, and it was here that Robson first cut her teeth, working in the finance department from the age of 11 in the summer holidays. "I showed an interest quite young and in that way my experience differed from that of other people," she says. "I'm quite interested in how the mechanics of an entrepreneur's brain works too, and how to encourage that creative thinking."
Despite the entrepreneurial background, she embarked on what she describes as a "brief flirtation with the City" after graduating from Bristol University with an economics and social history degree, where she would help to create new financial products. "After that I travelled; I went out to Russia where I worked in shipping and then I worked in supply chain management in Holland. Then I came back to the UK and did business consultancy."
This previous experience she believes stood her in good stead when she eventually started up her own business. "To be an entrepreneur and set up your own business takes guts and there is a bit of blind faith there, and the fact that I had travelled and been exposed to a lot of cultures helped," she says. "The supply chain management has come in very useful as well."
Taking off
The business launched in Soho, holding its launch event at the Union Club on Greek Street in 2013, and before long the gin was stocked in 14 bars in central London, as well as Gerry's Wines and Spirits on Old Compton Street. The initial focus was bars, but more recently the retail side of the business has taken off, and it can now be found in Asda, Morrisons and Ocado, as well as Fortnum & Mason and Harrods.
"We have one distributor for the UK and their business has grown as we have grown, which is probably the ideal scenario," says Robson. "We have worked very closely with them to set up that national distribution, whether that's in the form of PR and marketing, or drinks activities. But it's been very much brick by brick; you have to build it at the right speed in order to get that customer loyalty. We have grown quite organically and at a pace the business can afford."
The drink itself is a quadruple-distilled gin, made by Charles Maxwell, an 11th generation master distiller, of Thames Distillers, using 12 botanicals with nothing added after distillation but water and neutral grain spirit to blend to strength. The business relies heavily on its partners, says Robson; she only has one member of staff, in the shape of a brand and marketing executive, to assist her, although she's planning on taking on another employee this year.
The focus for the business currently is two-fold. Having built a strong base around its flagship product, it is about to launch a second line, in the shape of the new King of Soho pink gin, which incorporates a hint of strawberry for summer palettes.
Alongside this, it is looking to grow internationally. The business already exports to many European countries including Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, and in 2017 launched the product in 89 stores in Russia, mainly in and around Moscow. "For the first four years we just focused on the UK market although we did have exports, but now we need to develop those roots in the overseas markets," she says. "We went into the Republic of Ireland recently, and we also export to Japan; I'm doing a trade mission in June to see how we can develop that further." The US is also on the list of targets, she adds.
Taking a product overseas takes time, however. "You have to get on a plane otherwise you can't understand the market, and that helps enforce your relationship with your overseas distributor too," says Robson. "You can do a small amount of sales without going there but to take it to the next level you have to understand the business culture, what the opportunities are, and what the restrictions are around compliance and the legal framework. The alcohol industry is highly regulated all over the world, so you have to understand how to work in those parameters."
Robson believes growth is a vital component of an entrepreneurial mindset. "Once you get that buzz and the business has a momentum, which ours has, you go with it," she says. "We have a fantastic gin in a beautiful bottle, and I feel it's my mission to get it out there and share it all over the world so they can share in that Soho spirit and fun. You have a natural inclination to build and grow, so you're not going to do anything else but that, if market conditions will allow you to. I'm proactively developing our overseas markets, so you would hope that the result of that will be that the business grows to the next level."
Just the tonic
Her advice for would-be entrepreneurs who have a business idea is simple: go for it. "Don't let people put you off," she says. "You have to listen to what people are saying and take what you need from it, but sometimes industries are new. Sometimes they're new to you and sometimes they're new to the world and it shouldn't stop us. If you don't know something you learn or you find someone who has that expertise, who can talk to you about it or do that job that you need doing."
Her own journey is testament to that; as well as relying on partners she has joined industry associations and networked extensively to get to know the sector. "I've been on quite a steep learning curve but if I'd had the knowledge I have now back then I don't know if it would have been a good or a bad thing," she says. "Learning as I went along has been good for me because I discovered that I have a real appetite for this particular industry and I've really enjoyed it."
She does, however, warn that any venture people start could end up growing much faster than they expect, as happened when she and Howard almost inadvertently caught the gin wave just as it was building up momentum. "Just be aware that you could be doing something that's bigger than you thought," she says. "Write plans down; it doesn't have to be anything particularly scientific but just a few bulletpoints, and make sure you know the compliance around it. It's not all about opening parties and beautiful products; there's a lot of health-and-safety and regulation too, but that can help you develop a proper business plan at the very start."
As for her own future, Robson is adamant that she's found her niche in the gin industry. "There's nothing else that I want to do professionally," she says. "When I say I have found my home in the drinks sector I really mean it; I love working in the industry and I'm very passionate about the King of Soho brand. I can't think of anything else I would rather do."
In fact, her love of the job has now reached the point where her business and personal lives have almost completely blended together. "There is a social side," she admits. "There's so much creativity in the industry, and it's a little bit quirky because it's not the normal 9-5, so you meet some very interesting people. There's obviously a serious side to it too, when I'm sitting there on a Monday morning with a pile of paperwork or there's been a delay in my corks arriving at the distillers, but it is a social industry. I do taster sessions in stores myself and I hang out with the tonic brands. It's my work and play. I wouldn't do anything else."
