The Memory of the Industry project has been a twinkle in the eye of the livery for many years now, an acknowledgement of the unparalleled depth of knowledge that resides within the members of the livery, not to mention a network that is virtually unparalleled. Whilst individual companies have undertaken similar projects these are, by their nature focussed only on activities, brands and personalities of the company in question, the Memory of the Industry project has the ability to range across businesses and take an industry category view.

It has always been felt that the audience for project is potentially very wide, from the interested amateur to a more academic observer seeking a fly on the wall view of the some of our industry’s key moments. With the launch of the Business of Spirits Course however the Memory of the Industry project has the ability to offer our own WCD content to support this popular course.

Having been run aground somewhat by COVID we have now filmed two interviews, one with Past Master Martin Riley on the story of Jamesons, highlighting our ability to focus on an individual brand story and also one with Liveryman Steve Wilson on Innovation in the Spirits Industry demonstrating our ability to take a wider point of view.  Both videos took the format of a one-to-one interview with Development Director Clive Bairsto taking on the “Paxman” role. These videos are now with the Marketing Committee who are reviewing the best way to utilise this unique content.

Our next stage is to develop the project into a podcast format to enable us to deliver more “stories” more quickly and build a unique library of interviews with witnesses and indeed prime movers in some of our industry’s most important developments over the last 50 years. We currently have a list of around 50 topics to record however this is clearly not exhaustive so if you have a story to tell please get in touch through the Clerk’s Office: office@distillers.org.uk, we would be delighted to add you to our future recordings.

Allen Gibbons
Assistant

The Livery Vocational Training and Education team delivered a stellar day of insights to students of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling on Wednesday 11th Oct, using the 4^th Floor venue at WSET in Bermondsey. The day’s module of “Business of Spirits” is just that – it brings alive the business aspects of the distilling business to those who only have a technical understanding of distilling.

After an introduction to the Livery by Master Chris Searle, Liverymen Martin Riley, Chris Pitcher, Steve Wilson, Richard Watling, Nick Carr, and Clive Bairsto – and featuring new speaker Abhishek Banik from the Copper River Distillery – were all on great form sharing their knowledge to give distilling students a wider perspective of the whole business.  Topics covered included: a Global market overview and trends, Pricing and Finance , Consumer and Category Segmentation, Innovation, and a terrific personal story from Abhishek on his experiences of building a business and distillery from scratch with Bob Russell and his family and team at Copper Rivet in Chatham, Kent.

Comments from the students in the end-of-day evaluation were consistently 5 out of 5 gradings across the board with remarks such as: “..very knowledgeable and entertaining…”; “fantastic, highlighted how much I don’t know..!”; “..loved the practical advice/steps for real business application…” and “…absolutely brilliant; so worthwhile, and especially the networking opportunity” and “…I would love to attend more events like this…!”

Thanks go to our partners at WSET, Richard Harding and his team, for supporting us on the day with a very good venue – and to Bob Russell and Copper Rivet for kindly making Abhishek available to support us. The next delivery of this will be February 2024 at ICBD in Edinburgh.

Joint Distillers and Marketors Livery Panel Event

Date: Wednesday 1 November 2023
Time: 6.00pm – 9.00pm, HMS President, 72 St Katharine’s Way, London E1W 1UQ
Price: £35 with fabulous complimentary drinks and canapés

The Masters of the Livery Companies of the Distillers and Marketors invite you to attend a wonderful evening on Wednesday 1 November at HMS President in London, a stunning shore-based Naval venue, with a specially assembled panel of experts to consider if the spotlight is on Tequila in 2024 – a fiery subject indeed!

The panel will be chaired by the esteemed David Wethey, a published author and expert in Marketing, who returns to reprise his expert controlling-role, to this time over-see:

Nuno Teles – Managing Director, Diageo, UK
David Haigh – Chairman and CEO, Brand Finance PLC
Marina Santos – Marketing Director, Campari, UK
David Elmer – Tequila Aficionado, many years based in Latin America

Commencing at 6.00pm, we will welcome you to HMS President, there will be time to greet friends and find a seat. The event will get under way at 6.30pm sharp. The Masters of the two Companies – Chris Searle and Glynn Cartwright – will set the scene and context for the evening for our respective Liveries.

The panel then, with complete audience interaction in the intimate surrounding of HMS President, will get into the meat of the subject – and conclude just before 8pm. A complimentary Tequila cocktail bar, provided by Diageo, Campari and Brown-Forman, with wines for those who prefer and Mexican inspired canapés too, will allow a well-lubricated continuation of the subject matters raised amongst friends in a highly convivial atmosphere. A Tequila tasting table will be provided by Brown-Foreman for those who wish to learn more about this fascinating spirit. Doors close at 9pm.

Tickets will be priced at £35 and are available through the EventBrite link below. You may bring guests with you to this prestigious event. Numbers are limited so you are advised to book early.

PLEASE NOTE: As this is a private event, the password to access the Eventbrite page is available to members only. Please click the button below to see the option to book your place!

Any questions please contact Event Director for the Distillers Clive Bairsto: clive.bairsto@distillers.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you there!

Any profits from the event will be split between the Distillers’ and Marketors’ chosen charities.

Photographs will be taken and we will be filming the event which will be used for publicity purposes. If you do not wish your photograph to be taken or not wish to be in the film recording, then please let the photographer, or event organisers, who is covering the event know at the start.

THIS EVENT IS OPEN ONLY TO MEMBERS OF THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF MARKETORS AND THEIR GUESTS AND MEMBERS OF THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF DISTILLERS AND THEIR GUESTS.

On the evening of Wednesday 26 July 2023 – which was uncharacteristically cool for this prestigious annual event – The World Drinks Awards teamed up with the Worshipful Company of Distillers once again to present more than 200 country and world winners from their 2023 awards tasting at Vintners’ Hall.

Clearly, word had spread far and wide that this is the only event in the world where such a range of spirits is brought together to taste under one roof, as over 200 people attended (ranging from Distillers’ Liverymen to Masters, Clerks and Past Masters from other Livery Companies) with virtually zero no-shows!

During the evening, guests were also able to enjoy:

• The Distillers Cocktail Bar
• A selection of cheeses and preserved meats
• Presentations from The Master and World Drinks Awards
• A complimentary copy of Whisky Magazine, American Whiskey, Gin, Rum and Tequila

Finally, in a break with tradition, guests were given the opportunity to take home a mystery bag at the end of the evening, containing a selection of latest edition magazines and 2 randomly selected bottles from the tasting, all for a charitable donation of just £20 per bag. All proceeds are being donated to the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.

Livery members can see images of the event in the gallery:

Ed Macey-Dare
Clerk

It is with great sadness that we record the news of the sudden illness and premature passing of Sir Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive of Diageo Plc. on Wednesday 7^th June. Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with his wife Shibani and their two children. The news is particularly distressing as he was about to retire at the end of June after nearly 26 years service to the industry leader. This was the culmination of a highly successful career in strategy, global marketing and general management.

He first became known to the industry as strategy director of Guinness plc, by then the owners of United Distillers, and this led to the merger with Grand Metropolitan and IDV. His first operational role was as integration director bringing together two highly successful, but in many ways quite different but complementary companies. Despite their being competitors, he was able to lead the transition to a single company, UDV, in a merger of equals within a year of the announcement, a remarkable achievement. Initially a leading food and drink company, its parent, Diageo, steadily moved to become a business totally focussed on premium drinks.  Ivan was the first Global Marketing Director and then progressed through a series of increasingly senior positions in Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, and North America to become Chief Operating Officer, then Chief Executive in succession to Liveryman Paul Walsh in 2013.

His ten years as leader was characterised by tremendous growth in the company value through brand development and targeted acquisitions; as important was the development of the company as a trusted and respected proponent of good corporate practice in environment, society and governance issues, gender equality and diversity. The Board was transformed to have a majority of women and a diverse array of ethnic backgrounds. Personally, he was born in India where his father was chairman of the Railway Board and consequently Ivan held British, US and Overseas Indian citizenships.  It perhaps explains his enthusiasm for Scotch Whisky and especially his beloved Johnnie Walker!  The renaissance of this famous brand started under his leadership with the Keep Walking campaign launched in 1998.

As a livery we benefited enormously from the support Diageo provided as our first corporate member and their very generous donation to the One of One Auction which helped to multiply our Livery giving by tenfold.  Our investment fund was founded by a large donation under the Macdonald Buchanan brand from the DCL, an antecedent of Diageo, in 1955. On a personal note having reported to him in the first days of the new company he was a pleasure to work with; he was very determined and set high standards but was approachable, friendly and always ready to hear a good proposal, provide advice or act as a mentor. He was perhaps at his most relaxed and best company at the Keepers of the Quaich events in Scotland where he was an enthusiastic and regular attendee.  His former colleagues and friends will feel acutely the loss of an exemplary industry leader who did much for them, their company and the industry as a whole. In hindsight it is very fortunate and a comfort to his family, that his Knighthood was conferred earlier this year when he had the opportunity to know the esteem in which he was held and be personally rewarded for the enormous contribution he had made.

Richard Watling
Past Master 2016-17