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Annabel Thomas is a pioneering female entrepreneur who is showing how women can lead the charge for sustainability in a traditionally male-dominated field, and she’s doing it in her own unique way.
In 2013 she left her job in London to pursue her dream of revolutionising whisky making and after four years of fundraising Macnean, a sustainable distillery based in By Lochallin, Scotland, was born.
Nc’nean’s decision to auction off its first 10 bottles for charity saw the first bottle sell for £41,000, Entrepreneur UK reports the details.
What inspired you to start your business?
I felt strongly that the Scotch whisky industry was missing a modern, 21st century distillery; one that embodied the values I hold dear: sustainability, authenticity and innovation. The distillery is located on my parents’ farm on the west coast of Scotland, and while the initial inspiration came from that location, Nc’nean’s core mission was born after I took a leave of absence from my previous job as a management consultant in London to help write a family business plan. At that point, after visiting several existing distilleries, I realised that little others were thinking about things like sustainability. And ultimately, for the Scotch whisky industry to survive in 100 years’ time, these issues would need to be addressed. I founded Nc’nean to show the way, to light the way and prove that it’s possible.
What unique challenges have you faced as a female leader and how did you overcome them?
I think overall I’ve been pretty lucky and haven’t faced many particular challenges due to being a woman (of course, I’ve never been down this path as a man so I can’t say for sure). That being said, I know there are big challenges. More broadly, the number of women raising capital for their businesses, and more specifically within the whisky industry – challenges abound, ranging from representation within the industry, challenging outdated stereotypes that only men drink whisky, and in extreme cases, outright abuse. The flip side of that is that if you’re a woman in the industry, you stand out.
What advice would you give to other women looking to break into and succeed in your industry?
Just go for it! The industry itself is incredibly supportive and friendly. More friendly than I expected, in fact. There are tons of opportunities for women across the industry – not just in “typical” female roles like marketing. If you’re unsure, ask to gain experience at a local company. If you feel you need it, seek out resources that can support you further – there are plenty out there.
Related: Woman among women
Can you tell us about a pivotal moment in your career that had a significant impact on your journey as a woman entrepreneur?
It’s hard to pick just one, as it’s been a long journey, but it’s probably the moment when we launched our first bottled whisky in August 2020. Not only was this seven years since I started working on the project, but it was in the middle of COVID-19 so it was a strange but incredibly exciting time. What’s really significant is that we decided to auction the first 10 bottles of Nc’nean for charity, and the first one sold for the ridiculous price of £41,000. This was a world record for the first bottling of a new distillery and a fantastic way to kick off the most important stage of actually selling single malt whisky.
What initiatives or changes do you think are important to increase gender diversity in your industry?
There are a number of reasons, but the first and most obvious is having women in leadership positions. There are very few women running distilleries in the Scotch industry (Carla Raine was recently promoted to run Douglas Laing and I think she’s the only other woman who does so). This is terrible because for those at the start of their careers there aren’t enough people to look up to. Nc’nean is living proof of this. We’ve always had roughly equal numbers of men and women in our team, which I think shows what diversity at the top can achieve.
Secondly, the industry is offering experience and support to women – Nc’nean runs an annual work experience week where women can come and experience the day-to-day working of all elements of distilling, and Our Whisky Foundation, run by the amazing Becky Paskin, offers a fantastic mentoring programme as well as a range of other programmes to support diversity in the industry.
And finally, we still have to challenge the widespread perception of who drinks whiskey. The fact that I still get asked “do you drink whiskey” is testament to how much progress we still have to make.
Share your tips for achieving success…
I think there are two key things.
Be really clear about your vision: what do you want to do and why do you want to do it? Every business, no matter how great your business plan, will face challenges. And that’s when you need to go back to your mission. It has to be your true calling. I went back many times during my years at Nc’nean to my original mission of pioneering sustainability and creating an innovative, modern Scotch. And perseverance. Just keep going. Look at challenges as problems to be solved or look for the good that can come from unwelcome change. Because, despite the success stories you see from the outside, business is tough, and even tougher for small, young businesses. So figuring out how to keep going with a positive attitude during those difficult times will be very helpful.
Related: Important sustainability trends for entrepreneurs
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