‘Alternative Finance’ whiskey workshop held
Drinks Ireland|Irish Whiskey has called for the opportunity to invest to be extended up to seven years.
The webinar formed part of the representative body for the Irish whiskey industry’s ‘The Knowledge Still’ education and peer support programme and it included contributions from a range of finance and Irish whiskey industry experts on alternative finance sources for the sector.
Submission to Government
The Drinks Ireland|Irish Whiskey’s Small Business Committee has also sent a detailed submission to the Government which recently concluded a review of the Employment and Investment Incentive Scheme.
The Committee’s submission calls on Government to make the EIIS more appropriate for Irish whiskey distilleries which are different to other small and medium-sized enterprises in other sectors in that the capital investment scale can be much bigger and the investment cycle much longer before it can record profitability.
In particular, Drinks Ireland|Irish Whiskey has called for the opportunity to invest to be extended up to seven years and for businesses to be able to raise funds under the EIIS when they’re in their growth stage “from when the first spirit laid down to mature into whiskey comes to market”.
The speakers at today’s webinar were:
- Gordon Naughton, Founder of Tactive Commercial Advice
- Maura Ginty, Founder of tax advice specialist company GinTax
- ShaunSharkey, Senior Equity Fundraising Manager, Raising Capital for Start-ups, Crowdcube
- James Doherty, Founder, Managing Director at Sliabh Liag Distillers
- Elliot Hughes, Managing Director at Dingle Distillery & Director of the Porterhouse Group.
“An Irish whiskey distillery is highly capital intensive,” explained James Doherty Vice-Chair of Drinks Ireland|Irish Whiskey, “It requires time to establish and scale production, a minimum of at least three years to mature their Irish whiskey and while it offers long-term rewards there’s limited opportunity for a return in the first eight to 10 years. Irish distilleries, unlike other start-ups, need to raise funds over a longer time-scale and we hope that by extending the timeframe to invest, we’ll be able to further expand our growing industry.”
