Distilling success: Crafting growth for a spirited entrepreneur

Diistil is an innovative start-up, pioneering an on-demand distillery serving the world’s best hotels, bars, and restaurants. Founded in 2021 by Raj Batra, Diistil provides bespoke spirits in small order quantities to hospitality venues, corporate clients, and consumer events, alongside their classic range of award-winning ready-made products. These include unique single-flavour distillates like Yuzu and Jalapeño, and a London Dry Gin, which are also sold to consumers for the at-home mixologist.

With huge ambitions but limited time and resources, Diistil turned to Harper James in early 2022 for support to futureproof its rapid growth.

The flexibility start-ups need

Raj says that running a start-up can mean dealing with constant hurdles and rejection. However, he has learned that sometimes you need to ignore the naysayers and stick to your vision.  On other occasions, it pays to listen and adjust accordingly. The trick is deciding which advice to follow - and when.

Legal advice can be one of an early-stage company’s highest costs. Our Enable Plan subscription offers goodvalue and flexible legal support to companies such as Diistil, providing quick access to senior experts across various business legal services as their needs evolve and without incurring the cost of a full-time, in-house lawyer.

Tackling start-up priorities

In Diistil’s first year, our commercial, employment and data protection teams assisted with diverse projects including defining commercial terms, drafting employee agreements, and ensuring Diistil’s website was compliant, not only with UK GDPR, but also with other regulatory requirements.

According to Raj,

The teams have been incredibly efficient. They're not only easy to communicate with, but also highly knowledgeable, consistently able to meet even tight deadlines.

What truly sets Harper James apart is the access we have to a comprehensive range of legal experts – spanning employment law, commercial law, and data protection – all within an affordable subscription model that offers greater flexibility. This allows us to implement processes and put appropriate measures in place, without the typical charging constraints of a traditional law firm.

Signposting solutions

One area where our input made a strategic difference was helping Diistil to implement age verification for online alcohol sales.  As an alcohol retailer, it was crucial for Diistil to restrict underage access, but the UK regulatory regime provides little practical guidance on this.

Commenting on how this came about, Raj says:

Commercial Partner, Rob Cobley, helped us do the necessary due diligence and guided us on which online age verification solution offered us the best legal protection. We needed to eliminate any reputational risk and wanted a ‘gold-standard’ solution that set us apart from any competitors.

Getting it right with all the 'belts and braces' gave us comfort because there are several different providers who achieve age verification in different ways. Navigating and implementing the solution was made possible with Rob’s help.

Raj has also been particularly pleased with our employment services:

The employment team, particularly Sean Walsh, has been instrumental in providing real-time advice on the challenges that arise with a rapidly growing team.

Supporting success

Diistil has achieved widespread traction early on in its start-up journey.  

Within one year of launch, Diistil has activated over 25 venues, including The Peninsula London, One Aldwych, Experimental Cocktail Club, The Zetter Clerkenwell, WatchHouse, and Michelin-starred Aulis London. Diistil has now signed with its first distributor, Master of Malt, and secured listings in four independent retail stores. All without paid marketing or listing fees, driven by a strong pipeline and organic referrals.

This indicates that Diistil has a genuine product-market fit. It also started with a good foundation of solid legal advice to position the brand to thrive and grow.

Asked whether he would recommend Harper James, Raj’s answer was clear:

I would, yes. The combination of expertise, responsiveness, and value for money are the reasons it works so well for start-ups like Diistil needing versatile legal support. For any entrepreneur tackling the constantly shifting challenges of getting a new business off the ground, having adaptable legal advice that can evolve with our business makes all the difference.

Raj is enthusiastic about Diistil's future as his team seeks to solidify the business’ standing and expand within its core UK market. With a strong focus on implementing its business plan and sales strategy, Diistil has ambitious expansion plans, eagerly anticipated product launches, and exciting collaborations on the horizon.

The team's commitment to excellence was recently recognised at the prestigious 2024 London Spirits Competition, from which they took home 3 Silver Medals for their exceptional London Dry Gin, Yuzu Distillate, and Jalapeño Distillate. This well-deserved accolade from industry experts is a testament to the dedication, effort, and remarkable craftsmanship of Diistil's expanding team and increasing market growth, setting the stage for a promising future as it continues to innovate and captivate the discerning consumer of spirits.