Why gin?
The golden thread running through my career is food, drink and farming. I’ve traded coffee in East Africa, worked in the global produce trade for a decade and launched a distillery on my family farm to save the world from mediocre drinks. All of this started by a connection to the land from my dad and a fantastic grounding in cookery from my mum who was a home economics teacher. So, I’m a foody. I love flavour, cooking, growing ingredients, and seasonality and gin was the only spirit that allowed me to develop recipes and work in harmony with mother natures bounty from season to season. It’s a versatile bright spirit with a very British slant and bloody tasty when done right!
Tell us something you wish you had been told at the start of your career?
“This too shall pass” is the best sentence you can ever learn in life. When times are dark and there seems like no way out, this too shall pass, and when times are great and you are on the crest of a wave, this too shall pass!
What’s your favourite gin (besides your own)?
Tarquin’s or Cotswolds, great teams, making great liquids, doing it right and holding up the quality of the industry but also managing to take it to the big lads.
What motivates you?
Flavour, nature and authenticity. We are obsessed with making epic gins in harmony with nature, with an uncompromising view on quality of liquid, everyone says sh*t like this but we walk the walk. Authenticity is at our core and is created through our ethos, ingredients, equipment and process. There is no corner cutting, no clever marketing, no made-up brand stories or fake flavours. We use the full spectrum of mother nature by using actual fruit, blossoms and juices rather than flavourings from a factory. We do all this with a vision of becoming the most nature positive drinks business in the world, which expands past the boarders of our farm with initiatives like Warner’s Nature Marque. In an industry dominated by value engineered, mass produced mediocrity and misdirection, where phrases like 'inspired by' are used to enable any ingredient you want, we try to give consumers simply the best liquids to get p*ssed and save the world.
What keeps you up at night?
The last 30 months have been a roller coaster and there have been some very dark days. What keeps me up at night changes all the time but its really my own internal saboteurs which I am getting better at controlling.
Which colleague, mentor or employer has had the biggest influence on your approach to the gin business?
My dad probably, in good and bad ways. He is a farmer with a crazy work ethic which helps to get things done but can also lead to me adding too much value. When starting a business, I always remember a picture he had on the wall which said “don’t wait for your ship to come in, row out and meet it”. I’ve always liked that sentiment and we use a similar expression now for the team, GET AFTER IT.
Coffee or tea?
Coffee, I used to buy it in East Africa.
How often do you check your email?
Too much, it’s a massive distraction and should be focussed at certain times of the day, I will do better.
How do you let off steam?
I try to lift weights and do cardio five times a week, its really important for mental health.
Do you prefer a night on the tiles or a night on the sofa?
Out, out!
What’s your signature dish to cook at home?
Cote de boeuf, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese and greens!
What are you currently reading?
I am working my way through the Jack Reacher books and also Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine.
Best business decision?
Create the first rhubarb gin in the world and inadvertently the first pink gin at scale in the UK. It transformed our business and the gin category.
Worst business decision?
There are no bad decisions, just learnings which help you to make better decisions in the future.
If you could change one thing about the gin industry today, what would it be?
I would get all brands to put ingredients on back of pack and detail how their products are made on their website to cut through all the nasty overpriced product in the industry. This would at least give consumers the ability to understand the difference between products with smoke and mirrors hiding the truth.
What piece of advice would you give to those looking to climb the rungs in the business?
Cashflow is king, hire people better than you that you can learn from and if you are 51% sure make the decision and course correct if wrong.
If you could change one thing about the pub industry today, what would it be?
I would love to be able to give all pubs the ability to help and support nature. Our Nature Marque accreditation is that start of that, helping pubs to make space for nature. This is something that would truly make a difference for the planet.
Bio
Born in Kettering, Warner grew up working on the family farm and continues to be a part of the business. He studied Agri-Food Business and Marketing at Harper Adams University, and his early career saw him work first as a coffee trader in Tanzania, and later as a produce trader for the Fresca Group. He launched Warner's Distillery in 2012. Warner's Gin is now available across the UK, and internationally.