Interim Commercial & Marketing Lead (SME) at IronHill Spirits (2025-01 – 2026-03)
Led UK & EU market entry for a premium tequila brand, shaping strategy, route-to-market & launch execution.
- Go-to-Market: Appointed distributors, developed the value chain, built multi-channel launch plans, localised packaging & communications and created distributor launch toolkits.
Head of UK Marketing at Zonin Wines (2021-11 – 2024-08)
Led marketing strategy, shaping portfolio direction, innovation priorities & commercial focus. 2 directs.
- Portfolio Strategy: Cut tail 15%, adding 4.5% to bottom line. Set brand-channel strategy, prioritising growth brands.
- Strategic Diversification: Identified over-reliance on restaurants and expanded into new customer segments, securing premium listings and delivering +23% bottom line growth.
- 3-Year Innovation Pipeline: Defined a 3-year roadmap expanding into adjacent occasions and categories incl. AlcoholFree & RTD, aligning stakeholders behind 3 premium launches and securing first UK retail listings in Ocado & Morrisons.
- Commercial Turnaround: Closed an unprofitable Amazon business, partnering cross-functionally with Sales and Finance to build a scalable, profitable model delivering £100k+ revenue in Year 1.
Innovation & eCommerce Marketing Controller at Jägermeister (2017-03 – 2021-06)
Delivered commercial growth through innovation, portfolio expansion and new revenue streams.
- Innovation: Led cross-functional development of Jägermeister Cold Brew, broadening brand appeal and securing 800 retail and 3,400+ On-Trade listings, delivering +1.3% top-line growth in Year 1 and +16% margin per bottle vs core.
- New Revenue Stream: Partnered with Supply Chain to launch a D2C platform in 6 weeks, scaling to £200k+ revenue.
- Performance Marketing: Redirected media investment across VOD, Amazon and YouTube, generating 20,000+ recipe downloads and +40% Amazon sales.
Consumer Marketing Controller at Jägermeister (2014-10 – 2017-02)
Strengthened brand relevance and engagement through field, digital and experiential activations. 5 directs.
- Consumer Activation: Led national Field Marketing team, delivering 800 promotions and sampling 43,000 consumers.
- Digital & Experiential: Created the award-winning Jägerhaus festival activation and Ice Cold Gig campaigns, delivering 17m reach and £2.3m media value from a £45k budget.
- Integrated Brand Campaigns: Directed annual Halloween campaigns delivering 6m+ digital impressions, 4m+ PR reach, 3,000+ On-Trade activations.
Interim Marketing & Commercial Roles at Various (Interim Assignments) (2010-01 – 2014-12)
Ran assignments across drinks, FMCG & transport, focused on GTM, partner selection, launches & turnaround.
- Russian Standard Vodka: Managed 12 distributor markets ($8m), delivering +21% sales and France profit recovery.
- Russian Standard Vodka: Appointed UK distributor, built Gancia Wines launch strategy & initiated Tesco 'Speed-Date'.
- Russian Standard Vodka: Led global ad agency pitch, scoped Brand Equity Tracker, launched global sampling campaign.
- Jordans-Ryvita (ABF): Led 9 distributor markets (£10m). Negotiated avg. 8.5% price rise & restored Italy's profitability.
- SME Assignments: Delivered turnaround and go-to-market planning, including U'Luvka Vodka and Hire GB.
Global Brand Director - Bacardi Rum (Emerging Markets) at Bacardi (2001-01 – 2010-12)
Led global brand strategy across company-owned and partner markets, building alignment through influence and persuasion rather than central mandate. 2 directs.
- Emerging Markets Growth: Accelerated sales +84% and GP +114% by prioritising China, India and product mix.
- Portfolio Strategy: Led cross-market team developing a consumer-led framework aligning brands with need states.
- Pricing Strategy: Reset global rum pricing through competitive benchmarking to align value positioning across markets.
- Brand Identity: Collaboratively developed and rolled out Bacardi's first globally consistent Brand Visual Identity.
- Strategic Partnership: Championed Coca-Cola partnership, scaling a collaboration model across 14 markets.
- Cocktail Innovation: Developed Mojito, Daiquirí & Piña Colada RTDs, the Mojito reached #2 in the US.
Global Category Manager - Ready-to-Drink (RTD) at Bacardi (2001-01 – 2010-12)
Led global RTD category strategy and innovation across international markets, setting priorities, directing resource allocation and working collaboratively.
- Category Growth: Delivered 45+ market launches, driving +80% sales growth and £150m+ GP.
- Innovation Pipeline: Developed Bacardi Silver (US), Eristoff Ice (EU), Breezer and pack & dispense initiatives.
- Localisation: Led cross-market initiatives including Mandarin packs, Kosherisation and local production assessments.
- Route to Market: Partnered with local markets to unlock innovative RTM opportunities, including Illy Café in Greece.
- Portfolio Optimisation: Saved $11m through Supply Chain collaboration, with no impact on consumer experience.
