Gin experts from Ely are to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their company this weekend.

Ely Standard: John and Heather Carruth at the Ely Gin Company's market stall. PHOTO: Ely Gin CompanyJohn and Heather Carruth at the Ely Gin Company's market stall. PHOTO: Ely Gin Company (Image: Archant)

The Ely Gin Company will be marking the fifth anniversary of them starting out with a stall on Ely Market by handing out pieces of birthday cake – as well as samples of their new gin.

Since its inception in 2012, the company - founded by James Clark - has experienced rapid growth and now has a shop in the city’s Buttermarket and supplies dozens of stockists, food festivals and events across the country.

James said: “It was not until after we began that we realised what a great place Ely is to start a business.

“The Ely markets are very well supported by the public and allow new ideas to be tried out at very little cost, Ely has the infrastructure to allow businesses to grow and, not least, there is a great support network in place, friendly people with useful advice.”

Ely Standard: The Ely Gin Company's shop at the Buttermarket, Ely. PHOTO: Ely Gin CompanyThe Ely Gin Company's shop at the Buttermarket, Ely. PHOTO: Ely Gin Company (Image: Archant)

The company’s new gin flavour – Breakfast Marmalade – will be launched this weekend.

“We wanted to recreate the flavour you get when you bite into the skin in the marmalade,” James said.

“Obviously that is quite hard to do in a liquid, but we discovered that adding treacle to the mix is a pretty fair approximation. We had some fun developing this product.”

James traded in his job as a computer programmer in 2012 and unveiled the Ely Gin Company’s first market stall on March 26.

“So much has changed in the last five years, the company has grown tremendously,” he said,

“Where we started with one market stall, we now run events all over the country; our first basic web-site has grown into a major part of the business, and the shop is going from strength-to-strength. So much of this is thanks to the continued support of local people.”

For more information, visit www.elygin.co.uk.