Manchester-based alcohol-free beer and cider manufacturer, Drynks Unlimited, has aired its first TV advert to kickstart a year-long city centre sampling tour for its Smashed brand. ‘Get Smashed Anytime’ can be seen in the ITV Granada region, in the north west, until  February 7. The ad shows a host of places where people can drink a Smashed non-alcoholic beverage. Drynks Unlimited is now due to…

The ready-to-drink cocktail brand Laiba has launched a pair of products in partnership with mixologist Maxim Schulte. Schulte is formerly of the American Bar at London’s Savoy Hotel and is now head bartender at Kol Mezcaleria in the city. The new drinks are the Orientl Reviver and the Piña Colada Old-Fashioned, and the drinks will be sold under the banner Special Edition #01. Schulte said: “My…

Halewood Artisanal Spirits has announced that is moving the production of Whitley Neill gin to its City of London Distillery in central London. The company said the move will bring together the craft and provenance of Halewood’s City of London distillery with the popularity of premium gin brand Whitley Neill. The production process will continue to incorporate Whitley Neill London Dry Gin’s nine distinctive botanicals…

Loki Wine Merchant is set to open its third store in the Birmingham area. The third store will be in Knowle, and it will join the existing stores in Birmingham City Centre and Edgbaston. It is due to open by the end of the month. Phil Innes, founder and managing director, told Drinks Retailing: “It was meant to open in April this year but we…

The City of Manchester Distillery has created a new company and invested £900,000 in a drinks development and packing centre, as it expands its range of alcohol services. The creators of the Three Rivers Gin have established Alcohol Solutions and will be opening the new centre in Carrington, Manchester in September. An initial six new jobs will be created, with the 13,000 square foot centre…

Mumtaz Ali took on his Edinburgh city centre store nearly 20 years ago and one of the first things he did was to introduce a BWS section. He tells DRN that the sales uplift from introducing alcohol was immediate. What sort of alcohol range did you start off with? I started with quite a small range but I could see it was selling well so…

Manchester Gin has revealed plans to open a city centre distillery in Manchester. The distillery, which will be based on Watson Street, will sit directly underneath Manchester Central, the city’s iconic conference and events venue. The team will be working with Manchester-based Up North Architects to renovate six of the grade 2 star-listed railway archways. Plans for the distillery also include a bar and restaurant,…