Raising a glass to award win

The business, run by Tom Warner, received a Rural Oscar from the Countryside Alliance for Midlands Champion in the Local Food & Drink category.

Tom said he was delighted to be recognised.

The awards are the alliance’s annual celebration of rural produce, skills, enterprise and heritage through our small hard-working businesses.

They are now in their 12th year and have become the definitive rural business award to win. The awards are public-nomination led across five categories - Local Food & Drink; Village Shop/Post Office; Tourism Enterprise; Farm Enterprise and Butcher.

Judge Jill Grieve said: “Tom Warner is a force of nature who won’t let anything stop him when a good idea takes root.

“Having considered many different ways to diversify his family’s Northamptonshire farm, he hit upon making gin as a way of using many of the products grown on the farm, from elderflowers to sloes and other botanicals, and making something rather special. The distillery now enhances the farm and vice versa, and a newly planted botanicals garden in memory of Tom’s late mother is a touch that reminds you that the business is rooted in a close farming family. The gin itself is multi-award winning, but it’s the enthusiasm of Tom and his team as they work that is truly inspiring. The gin has ensured the farm’s future, but is so much more than that and has really put Warner Edwards on the map, enabling them to support other local businesses as they draw tourists into their beautiful little village.”