Thousands of bottles of gin and tonic are to be sold off by liquidators at a rare auction in Scunthorpe.
Fans of the juniper berry spirit are expected to snap up cut-price cases as more than 1,200 branded bottles including Tinker, Kuro, Aduro, Slingsby, Dingle, Santamania, Black Tomato Gin and PJ fall under the hammer in the unusual lot. The sale also includes outdoor festival bar equipment including strobe lights, speakers, a mixing console and optics. 7,000 litres of tonic are also included.
Begbies Traynor, the administrators of Yorkshire-based Gin Festival Limited, instructed the Scunthorpe office of Eddisons CJM to auction off the stock after the events firm fell into administration last month.
20 planned festivals across the UK were cancelled and 27 members of staff of Gin Festival Limited were made redundant leaving the huge volume of gin behind.
Quarterly combined sales of gin in UK supermarkets, shops, pubs, bars and restaurant have increased by over 40% according to a recent report by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA).
In the year ending 31 March 2018, UK gin sales rose by 28% in volume and by 33% in value to reach £1.5 billion, meaning that sales have more than doubled in value in five years (£696m y/e March 2013). The WSTA has predicted that gin will be a £2 billion industry by the end of this year.
Paul Cooper, director in the Scunthorpe office of Eddisons CJM, said:
“It is rare to find this level of volume and wide range of gin brands on sale at auction anywhere in the UK and we are pleased to have been selected to put it to auction in Scunthorpe. Gin has become somewhat of a trendy drink during the past couple of years so I expect bidders to be a mix of consumers and those in the trade.”
Physical viewing takes place on Friday 10th August (1pm – 4:30pm) at Eddisons CJM on Dunlop Way in Scunthorpe. The auction takes place online and will be concluded at 6pm on 13 August.
