Global sales of UK gin doubled from 2013 to 2018, to reach £2bn annually. Some see £3bn as a possible figure by the end of 2020. The surge is driving the creation of modern local takes on the traditional spirit. British Business Awards headline sponsor Ki No Bi Kyoto Dry Gin earned the gold medal in the 2018 World Gin Masters competition for its uniquely Japanese combination of yellow yuzu, hinoki wood chips, bamboo, gyokuro green tea and green sansho peppercorns. In a 6 November story recapping the results in trade publication The Drink Business, Judge Kit Chiu, a wine educator at Shanghai-based ASC Fine Wines Co., Ltd. said, “Competition is certainly ramping up [as] different styles of gin from other countries such as Australia and Japan are booming in the global market and keep exceeding expectations in terms of consumption”.