Billy Abbott

Billy is The Whisky Exchange’s drinks ambassador as well as a write and educator who hosts whisky, beer and spirits tasting around the world.

Outside of work, he runs Whisky Squad, a London-based whisky tasting club, judges at drinks competitions and writes about whisky for a variety of publications, both print and online.

Dawn Davies MW

Dawn Davies is head buyer of distribution company Speciality Drinks. She previously spent nine years working as beer, wine and spirits buyer with UK retailer Selfridges, where was awarded a series of drink retailing awards for her pioneering approach.

Before joining Selfridges, Davies had an extensive career as an on-trade manager and sommelier with Zuma, Boxwood, The Square and The Ledbury restaurants.

Guy Hodcroft

Guy Hodcroft has worked in all areas of the wine and spirit sector at some point, moving between bars, restaurants, independent retailers, department stores, and sometimes even countries.He started his buying career at Selfridges, and then moved as Head Spirits Buyer at multi-award-winning online retailer Master of Malt. He is now Buyer for luxury fine wine and spirits merchant Bordeaux Index. In 2018, he was awarded Drinks Business Spirit Buyer of the Year.

Kate Malczewski

Kate is an Ohio-born, London-based freelance writer and editor. She was previously the editor of BarChick and digital editor of The Spirits Business. She holds a Level 3 Award in Spirits and a Level 2 Award in Wine from the WSET and has judged cocktail and spirits competitions across the UK.

In 2023, she was awarded the IWSC’s Emerging Talent in Spirits Communication trophy.

Nicky Burston

Nicky is currently Head of Charity Services at The Drinks Trust and has 30 Years experience in wines, sprits and beer from buying to sales and everything in between. She has been Winner of Entrepreneur of the Year, runner up Best Distributor to Independents and Winner of Harper’s Agent of the Year.

Siobhan Payne

Siobhan Payne is the co-founder od London Cocktail Week and has been on the ground of the London drinks scene since 2010. Alongside her business partner Hannah Sharman-Cox, they also started their own consultancy business HANDS London which creates global commercial strategies, industry landscape reports and frameworks for start-up business.

David T Smith

David T Smith is an independent spirits writer and consultant specialising in gin. He has authored a variety of drinks books including Gin Tonic, The Craft of Gin and, most recently, The Gin Dictionary.

Melita Kiely

Melita is the Editor of The Spirits Business, the world’s leading trade magazine dedicated to spirits and chair of The Global Spirits Masters competitions.

Michael Vachon

Michael Vachon is co-founder of craft spirits distributor Maverick Drinks, which is leading the craft spirits movement in the UK.

Nick Larsson-Bell

Nick is currently the Senior Spirits and Beer buyer at Harvey Nichols and was awarded the Retail Buyer of the Year by the drinks business in 2022.

Pooja Sharma-Jones

Pooja has over 19 years of luxury and high-end F&B, retail and hospitality marketing experience, working for some of the world's most successful lifestyle and restaurant brands including Soho House, Selfridges, Harrods and Liberty. ​

Since 2016 to 2020, Pooja ran her own F&B/Hospitality marketing consultancy, supporting restaurants & drinks brands lead successful marketing campaigns to accelerate and leverage their brand position as well creating opportunities for sales growth. One of her clients was Mocktails whom she consulted for for 10 months and she was asked joined the multi award-winning, alcohol-free cocktail brand full time as Chief Marketing Officer in September 2021.

Leah van Deventer

Leah van Deventer is a distinguished writer, educator and consultant specialising in cocktails, spirits and bar culture.

She contributes to the cultivation of industry excellence by sitting on multiple international judging panels, including the Spirited Awards, San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the World’s 50 Best Bars, where she serves as Academy Chair.

In her day-to-day in Cape Town, Leah favours projects that facilitate community, such as the Ajabu Cocktail and Spirits Festival and the Sisterhood for Industry Support, a sorority she founded in 2022.

Leah’s commitment to effecting positive change has earned her a place among the Bar World 100 three times, while her storytelling has similarly seen her named Bar Communicator of the Year threefold in South Africa, and Top 4 Spirits Communicator worldwide. Find her at leahvandeventer.com.

Tom Brady

After hanging up his jigger on a hospitality career spanning nearly twenty years across three different countries, Tom Brady joined The Oxford Wine Company in 2020 and now oversees all aspects of the organisation when it comes to the 700+ portfolio of spirits spanning both retail and the on trade.

Tom runs regular spirits tastings and events, most of which he hosts himself.  In 2023 he founded the annual Oxford Rum Show and followed this up in 2024 with the inaugural Oxford Whisky Show and the Oxford Sparkling Wine Show.  He has been running his Oxford based whisky club since January 2023.

Aside from streaming episodes of The Oxford Wine and Spirit Podcast on YouTube and Spotify, you can catch up with Tom via his Instagram channel @whattomdrank where he posts product reviews and educational videos on a range of wine and spirit related subjects.

Tom currently holds WSET Level Three qualifications in both wine and spirits. Having completed his WSET Diploma final examinations in May 2024 he's hoping to receive his certificate later this year.

Rob Hollands

CEO at Proofworks

An entrepreneurial leader focused on driving innovation and business success through creativity, technology and data.

Rob has founded and led high-growth digital companies, from start-up to exit and most recently scaled a leading IoT consultancy and SaaS platform.

A recognised expert in technology innovation, connected products and IoT, Rob has worked with global brands including Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Estée Lauder Companies and Nestlé.

He’s a regular speaker on innovation and future trends and has most recently spoken at the World Spirits Summit, Spirits Innovations, NRF, WARC, The Drum, Festival of Marketing, RetailEXPO, London Packaging Week, LuxePack, and Circular Economy Week. He is also a respected judge at The Spirits Business Global Design and Packaging Masters.

William Meredith

Will is currently director of Daisy Age Drinks Ltd. where he brings a wealth of experience, dedication, and passion to the team.

Previously, Will headed the beverage programme for the Permanently Unique group including the national brands of Tattu and Fenix. In this role he led the development of consumer-friendly, fun and dramatic drinks whilst upgrading the overall beverage offering and operations across the company. This role followed his time at Dandelyan and Lyaness bars where he worked for over 5 years. He started as a junior member of the team and has spent his time in the venue learning, growing, and developing himself to understand and deliver the Lyan way of thinking and delivery before landing the role of Bar Manager.

Prior to his days in London, Will learned his trade in Manchester where he worked in a couple of cocktail bars, learning about the fast-paced environment and delivering the unusual to the wider public. Hosting and communication has always been one of Will’s passions and he is in his element when spreading the love and identity of the bar to those who come and visit.

Will is from the UK, but spent his childhood moving around East and West Africa before moving back to England for secondary school. He then moved to Manchester where he studied Philosophy at University before moving into hospitality.