Meet the team

The Dog and Spoon Distillery was born out of a natural progression of Tony and Seb’s friendship. They enjoyed going out for food and drinks and trying different gins each time. It almost became a challenge to try them all, and during which they asked themselves, ‘Can we do this?’

Tony and Seb have built their careers as software engineers and reached a point where they wanted to try their hand at something new and different; to create something they could physically hold and see.

“I still gets a buzz when I sees my gin behind a bar and when someone orders it.” – Tony

“When we are at events and receive positive responses it’s a great feeling. And when people spend their money on buying our gin when there is so much choice because they like it is very validating.” - Seb

Sustainability was always on their minds, and it started on a micro scale of wanting to keep the farmland healthy for themselves and their neighbours but as they grew, it became apparent how it impacts everyone. Reusing materials is also an important aspect, and this philosophy has been applied from the beginning when they built the Dog and Spoon Hotel as the majority of the materials were reclaimed from the land.

When it comes to sustainable products there is a gap between the consumer and supplier because there is no clear certification at a government level that says, this is a sustainably validated product and what that means. So, being transparent about their footprint and the process they take to create their gin is important to them.

For Tony and Seb, working with local businesses was paramount. Firstly, it is fair to say that local businesses are much better for sustainably and it keeps the costs down on transit, whilst getting more personal service. However, the wider angle is that it promotes the community. By working together with other smaller businesses in the surrounding area it has a positive knock-on effect which will help one other grow as they forge friendships and offer each other support, up scaling to hopefully create more jobs which can only be good for the community they are a part of.