The Lakes Distillery: Profit slumps at Nyetimber’s whisky brand
Nyetimber, the English sparkling wine producer, paid £71m to acquire The Lakes Distillery in 2024 as part of its goal to create a UK-based luxury drinks brand. But just two years on, and it’s starting to look as if Nyetimber, led by CEO Eric Heerema, may be suffering buyer’s remorse.
Paul Carrie (who previously co-founded Lochranza distillery on the Isle of Arran), set up The Lakes in 2014 and invested a total of £9m in building the distillery. The inaugural single malt release, Genesis, launched in 2018. Only 99 bottles were made and the first bottle was sold for £7,900.
Nyetimber paid 12 times 2023 revenue for the business and went on to launch the distillery’s first core range, Signature, in March 2025.
However, according to The Lakes Distillery Company’s accounts, published on 18th September, turnover slumped from £8.4m to £3.3m, or 61 per cent, over the year to 31 December 2025, the first full year under Nyetimber’s ownership.
Meanwhile, gross profit decreased from £5.7m to £1.9m. In 2023, the last full year before the acquisition, The Lakes recorded revenue of £5.8m and a gross profit of £3.6m.
The figures help explain why The Lakes decided to close the restaurant and shop, and end tours of its distillery at its Brand Home site in Cockermouth, Cumbria earlier this year.
Nyetimber, on the other hand, reported sales of £18.1m for the same period in 2025, up from £17.1m in 2024. Its operating loss improved to £4.7m from £8.5m.
Nyetimber Wines and Spirits Group Limited, the holding company for The Lakes, Nyetimber and other subsidiaries including the group’s vineyards, reported sales of £21.7m, up from £20m and an operating loss of £14m.
English whisky’s headache
The distillery’s falling sales illustrate the challenges weighing on the whisky sector, particularly English whisky. Sales have been falling, but supply is only set to increase.
Around 70 English whisky distilleries are now in operation, and around half haven’t even started selling product into the market. That suggests the outlook for English whisky distillers such as The Lakes is mixed at best.
Eric Heerema, CEO and owner of The Nyetimber Wines & Spirits Group, said: “We are of course disappointed with the recently published results for The Lakes Distillery. However, we are currently implementing a lot of exciting, positive changes across the brand which we believe will set the company on the right trajectory financially. Our commercial ambition is to grow The Lakes Distillery in a sustainable way, and we look forward to revealing our plans early next year.”
Despite its challenges, the group is still making waves in the English whisky market. Earlier this year, its Chocolatier single malt whisky became the only English whisky to win a Gold medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2026, it was awarded 95 points by the blind judging panel. It has since launched the product in the UK, following an initial launch in Australia.