WHO IS JAMIE BAXTER?

After studying Biology at University, Jamie Baxter spent many years working within the food industry before moving on to owning and running a number of pubs and restaurants.

Jamie always had an interest in alcoholic drinks and used to ferment ginger beers, ales and wines in his bedroom. Whilst at one of his pubs, Jamie looked at installing a microbrewery in the cellar and worked closely with a local brewery to gain a professional understanding. Following this, Jamie went to work for William Chase who asked him to design and build a potato vodka distillery. In order to gain experience and knowledge Jamie took a road trip across the USA visiting distillers such as Cold River, Leopolds Brothers and Old World Spirits.

After running the Chase Distillery for some time, Jamie left but knew he wanted to stay in the industry. Small scale craft distilling had only just been made possible in the UK and Jamie found he was one of the few people in the country with any experience of it. After becoming a consultant for others starting out in the industry he was approached by Jonathan Clark who wanted help setting up City of London Distillery. Upon completion of the project, Jamie was keen to work towards his own distillery and after leaving City of London Distillery, together with three partners created 45 West Distillers Ltd, which produces Burleighs  London Dry Gin and is also home to the 45 Gin School.