From Concept to Company: Q&A with Annabel Thomas, founder and CEO of Nc'nean Empowering women in the world of whisky

Anabel Thomas is a trailblazer in female entrepreneurship, showing how women can lead the charge in sustainability in a traditionally male-dominated field - and she's doing it her own way.

In 2013, she left her job in London to chase her dream of revolutionising whisky production, and after four years of fundraising Nc'nean, a sustainable distillery based in Lochaline, Scotland, was born.

A decision to auction Nc'nean's first 10 bottles for charity resulted in the first bottle selling for £41,000! Entrepreneur UK finds out more.

What inspired you to start your business?

I felt strongly that the Scotch whisky industry was lacking a modern, 21^st century distillery. One that embodied the values I held dear, such as sustainability, authenticity and innovation. The distillery is on my parent's farm on the west coast of Scotland, and whilst the initial inspiration was taken from that place, the core mission of Nc'nean emerged after I took a sabbatical from my previous role as a management consultant in London, to help my family write the business plan. It was at that point, after visiting a few existing distilleries, that I realised how little others were thinking about things like sustainability. And ultimately, if we want the Scotch industry to still be around in 100 years time, it needs to embrace these issues.I founded Nc'nean to show the way, light the path and prove that it could be done!

What unique challenges have you faced as a female leader and how did you overcome it?

I think I have generally been pretty lucky and not faced too many specific challenges as a result of being female (though of course, having never done the journey as a male it is hard to say for sure!). That being said, I know there are enormous challenges – more broadly around the number of women raising money for their own businesses, and more specifically within the whisky industry, around representation in the industry, challenging out-dated stereotypes that only men drink whisky and, in the extremes, outright abuse. The flip side of that is that if you are a female in the industry, you stand out!

What advice would you give to other women aspiring to enter and succeed in your industry?

Just do it! On the inside, it is an incredibly supportive and friendly industry, in fact friendlier than I could have ever have imagined. There are so many opportunities for women across the industry, and not just in the 'typical' female roles such as marketing. Reach out and ask to get some experience at a local business if you are not sure, and look around for resources that can support you further if you feel you need it, there are plenty out there.

Related: A Woman's Woman

Can you describe a pivotal moment in your career that significantly impacted your journey as a female entrepreneur?

It has been a long journey, so it's tough to pick just one, but perhaps the moment we launched our first ever bottled whisky in August 2020. Not only was this 7 years after I'd started working on the project, it was also in the middle of COVID -19, so it was a strange yet very exciting time. The thing that really made it so significant, is that we decided to auction Nc'nean's first 10 bottles for charity, and the first one went for an absolutely mega £41,000! This was a world record for the first bottling from a new distillery and a fantastic way to start the most important phase of actually selling single malt whisky!

What initiatives or changes do you believe are crucial for achieving greater gender diversity in your industry?

I think there are lots of things, but the first and most obvious one, is having women in leadership positions. There are very few women in Scotch running distilleries (Cara Laing was recently promoted to run Douglas Laing, and I think she is the only other one apart from me). This is a terrible position because those at the beginning of their journeys don't have enough people to look up to. Nc'nean is living proof of that - we have always had roughly an equal number of men and women in the team. I think that shows what diversity at the top can achieve.

The second is the industry providing experience and support to women. At Nc'nean we run work experience weeks every year for women to come and experience the day to day workings of all elements of a distilling business, and Our Whisky Foundation, run by the incredible Becky Paskin, offers a fantastic mentoring programme amongst other support for diversity in the industry.

And finally, we still need to challenge the broader perceptions of who drinks whisky – the fact that I am still asked 'Do you even drink whisky' is testament to how far we still need to come!

Share your tips for achieving success...

I think there are two key things:

1. Being really, really clear on your vision – what it is you want to do and why. No matter what business or how great your business plan, things will get tough, and when they do, you need to be able to refer back to this mission – it needs to be a true calling. I have referred back to my original mission to pioneer sustainability and create innovative, modern Scotch, so many times over the years of working on Nc'nean and it has served me really well.
2. And then perseverance – just keep going. Approach challenges as problems that need to be solved, or look for the good that will come from unwelcome change. Because despite all the success stories you see on the outside, business is tough, and small, young businesses are even tougher! So figuring out how you keep going, with a positive attitude, in those challenging times, will serve you very well.