When friends Liam Manton and Mark Smallwood went for a drink at a pub in Didsbury five years ago, they never could have imagined it would lead to a letter from the King.
Both lovers of gin, they decided to make their way through as many different types of the juniper-based spirit the pub had to offer. After getting the bill, the pals realised there must be a cheaper way to find their favourite.
So they decided to create their own. Based on the flavour profiles they'd enjoyed in the pub, they produced a sample and introduced it to a select few journalists and bar owners.
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Six months later, and Alderman's Didsbury Gin had appeared on the shelves of Harvey Nicholls. And, after an appearance on Dragon's Den three years ago, the business spiralled with the help of a five-figure investment from dragon, Jenny Campbell.
"We were both working full time jobs and we were approached to go on Dragon's Den so we turned it down," recalled Liam, 35, who is originally from Collyhurst but now lives in Ancoats.
"But then we both got made redundant from our respective industries within a week of each other. The researchers contacted us again and we agreed to go on the show.
"Because it was booze we had to go in last, so we were there from 5am in an entrepreneur green room. We just sat and watched Only Fools and Horses whilst everyone else went mad.
"We got two offers and went with Jenny Campbell who is a fellow northerner. She's still very much involved with the business now."
Just over a year after their appearance on the BBC show, the coronavirus pandemic hit. Overnight, the business lost 80 per cent of its revenue, as bars and restaurants across the country were forced to close their doors.
"I was approached by the Mayor's office and then Sacha Lord who said the NHS were struggling to get any hand sanitiser and I thought maybe we could make some," Liam said.
"We had raw alcohol so I told him to let me have a look and get back to him. Within a week we'd made the equivalent of 2.7million bottles for every hospital in Greater Manchester, doctor's surgeries, and police stations.
"We never thought about the money. We had an opportunity to help and we just did it. It was amazing just seeing the love. The tweets we were getting from nurses. We were getting bombarded."
Liam said he and Mark were motivated to help after seeing a number of businesses profiting from selling hand sanitiser to businesses at an inflated rate during the pandemic.
"There were a lot of sharks making a lot of money at the time from a lot of these organisations and charging extortionate prices," Liam said.
"It was a quite intense situation for everyone but for me it was a national disgrace that hospitals like the Christie - who have just been treating my dad for the past two months - didn’t have access to the bare essentials to do their job."
At the end of 2022, the friends' efforts during the pandemic were recognised after being awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to the community in Greater Manchester during Covid-19.
For Liam, whose dad passed away this week, the award was bittersweet. "We found out a week before Christmas and for me personally, because my dad was seriously ill, to be able to share that news with him before he passed was amazing," he said.
"For Mark he is from a similar background to me - a council estate in the North East. His family are over the moon about it. People from where we are from don’t get these kinds of things generally."
The company has gone from strength to strength and, just three years after their appearance on Dragon's Den, Liam and Mark saw it turn over £3m in sales.
Their business hasn't been immune to the cost of living crisis though, with increasing volatility around energy prices and the cost of goods rising. But Liam is confident he has the right team and right product to weather the storm.
After receiving their OBE, Liam and Mark plan to continue exploring ways they can help the local community. "We are always looking at ways we can give back," Liam said.
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