Shakespeare Distillery has won a Gold award in the prestigious West Midlands Tourism Awards. The independent artisan spirit producer, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, picked up the award in the New Tourism Business Award category at a special ceremony held on 26 February at the University of Birmingham’s Great Hall. As a gold winner, Shakespeare Distillery will automatically be entered into the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, which takes place in June.

Supported by the West Midlands Growth Company, which aims to attract visitors and events to the region, the awards celebrate the venues that have helped to bring a record 131 million visitors to the area in 2018 – a 2.6% increase on the previous year. The West Midlands’ tourism industry is now worth £12.6 billion, a rise of 6.7% and supports more than 135,000 jobs.

Peter Monks, Director at Shakespeare Distillery said “We are absolutely thrilled to have won Gold in the West Midlands Tourism Awards. Having established our business five years ago, our gins have gone from strength to strength and we introduced our distillery tours and gin school a year ago. Winning this award is testament to our brilliant team who work incredibly hard in producing high quality, locally made handcrafted spirits. We are continuing to expand and improve our visitor offering and are currently renovating a larger area for groups to enjoy our tours and experiences at our distillery”.

Neil Rami, Chief Executive of the West Midlands Growth Company said “The West Midlands Tourism Awards provided a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the very best of our region’s visitor economy offer, which is enjoying a real renaissance. We are entering a defining period where the West Midlands will be in the global spotlight like never before. This ceremony recognised the people who make this region such a great place to visit and the valuable contribution that tourism makes to the local economy”.

Established in 2015 by Simon Picken and Peter Monks, Shakespeare Distillery is an independent artisan spirit producer based in Stratford upon Avon. Everything they produce is in small handcrafted batches, ensuring they can devote time and attention to creating the best tasting spirits around.  The range of award-winning gins are available to buy in many local wine and spirit outlets, bars, restaurants and hotels, with a fast-growing range of stockists. The company also offers distillery tours to discover how gin is made as well as offering a gin school, shop, seasonal gin tasting river cruises and cocktail masterclasses. The company plans to establish their own locally distilled rum over the next few months.

For more information about Shakespeare Distillery please visit https://www.shakespearedistillery.com/ For more information about the West Midlands Tourism Awards visit https://westmidlandstourismawards.com/

PHOTO: Peter Monks (left) and Simon Picken with their award