ALL 16 jobs were lost when an award-winning Scottish distillery collapsed into liquidation, it has been revealed.
The Herald revealed last week that Secret Garden Distillery Limited, which was awarded the prestigious title of UK Gin Producer of the Year 2025, entered voluntary liquidation last week.
It is understood that a key investor had pulled out of the project, impacting its operations.
The Lothianburn-based distillery was founded four years ago by two sisters had also won a raft of previous awards in 2024, including gold and silver taste awards at the Spirits Business Gin Masters 2024 ceremony.
Company accounts show that the 16 employees registered in 2025 had been reduced from 23 the year before.
A spokesperson for the liquidators has today said: “Gareth Wilcox and Mark Harper of Opus Restructuring & Insolvency were appointed Joint Liquidators of Secret Garden Distillery, following the director’s concluding that the company must cease trading and enter Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation.”
The spokesperson told The Herald: “Upon the cessation of trading, the company's employees, including the directors, were made redundant.
“Prior to liquidation the directors had, for some time, been engaging with an interested party with a view to additional investment being made into the business, however, this was ultimately unsuccessful.
“The withdrawal of the interested party and absence of any likely alternative gave rise to the decision that there was no option but to commence liquidation proceedings.”
The Opus spokesperson added: “The liquidators’ role is to realise the company's assets and conduct the liquidation in accordance with their statutory duties and at this stage there is no further information to provide on future plans relating to the site.
“Parties with an interest in acquiring any assets of the company should contact the Joint Liquidators at the earliest opportunity.”
