Fifteen years building brand and marketing for founder-led businesses. At Distill Ventures I helped grow a portfolio of 35+ brands with £320M+ invested. My career has followed the challengers. Founders and brands that change the category rather than inherit one.
London hospitality groups. A Diageo-backed accelerator. Founder-led drinks brands. Category platforms that moved an industry. Three different jobs on the CV, one brief underneath: the people and businesses that refused to do things the expected way.
Seedlip reframed non-alc. Ritual brought the category stateside. Mr. Black turned cold-brew into a premium category. The DV portfolio shifted what drinks innovation looked like. Drake & Morgan treated a group of neighbourhood bars as a portfolio. Every one of them won by challenging the default.
That’s the work. Brand, marketing, and comms for founders changing the category, and the funds backing them.
Diageo-backed accelerator and investor in founder-led spirits brands. Built the brand, marketing, and comms engine from day one across a 35+ brand portfolio.
20+ unique bars and restaurants across London and Manchester.
Large-scale UK hospitality portfolio — multi-channel campaigns, product launches, and social content at estate scale.
Advisory, retainer, and embedded engagements across drinks and CPG. For the brands, and for the funds backing them.
