THREE new brands have been added to the Spindles pop-up shop Oldham Made, helping to kickstart the retail revolution of the borough.
Donkeystone Brewing Co, luxury bathing brand Bave and gin distillery Defiance Gin bring the roster up to 16 local businesses with a variety of goods on offer.
Oldham Made opened at the start of March as part of Oldham Council’s initiative to revive the town centre.
Donkeystone Brewing Co, based in Greenfield, started out in 2017 when two friends decided over a pint to pursue their love of real ale.
There began a journey of sourcing the best brewers and using the highest quality ingredients to create a range for ‘proper’ beer drinkers like themselves, including traditional cask ales, IPAs, and more unusual offerings such as coffee and vanilla stout.
James Uttley, Sales and Events manager, said: “Donkeystone are really pleased to be teaming up with Oldham Made, selling our range of canned ales in store.
“It is fantastic to see the quality of products on display from other independent retailers, showcasing the array of creativity in our town.”
Over the last five years Donkeystone has gone from strength to strength, leading them to now open their own tap house in Greenfield.
Their participation in Oldham Made will allow them to open up to the wider community as they add street food, wine and gin to their offer in the coming months.
Bath product brand Bave is also joining Oldham Made. Bave was founded by Joe Henshaw and Reece Best who were fed up with the glittery bubble bath and floral fragrances on offer that often left skin dry and irritated.
Designed to help people relax, recover and recharge, Bave’s products are 100% vegan and cruelty free, using essential oils and natural therapeutic salts to create the ultimate bath time experience.
Reece said: “Bave’s mission is simple, to promote the health benefits of bathing. According to a study in Germany, a 30-minute soak in a warm bath daily can improve mental wellbeing.
“Those who enjoyed a bath everyday scored overall three points better on the depression scale than those who were asked to do 45 minutes of aerobic exercise. There’s goodness in the water and we want to embrace that.”
Rounding up the new additions to Oldham Made is the Defiance Distillery, launched in 2017 and voted best in the world at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2020 against 3,000 other gins.
Made in Lees, Defiance Gin is blended from a unique combination of 16 foraged British botanicals including sweet cicely, tangerine root, as well as the tips of spruce.
Paul Sheerin, owner, said: “I’m very proud to be supporting Oldham Made. Everything we
produce in our award-winning distillery is made here in Oldham and it’s great to stand alongside some of my fellow Oldhamers and show just what the borough has to offer.
“The name Defiance is drawn from the idea of nature’s defiance – it goes through the cycle of life, growing, blooming, dying and then after a barren winter, nature fights back to bloom in spring once again.
“I feel like not only is this representative of our brand, but also of some of the brands here, they’re on the backfoot after the pandemic, but we’re coming back stronger”.
Oldham Made is open until the end of March on Monday to Saturday from 9am until 5pm and is funded by The Welcome Back Fund, set up by the European Regional Development Fund and Her Majesty’s Government.