Gareth Bath joins Distill Ventures as European MD

By Lisa Riley

Published: 23 January, 2020

Former Chapel Down and BrewDog MD Gareth Bath has joined independent drinks accelerator Distill Ventures as European MD.

Bath, who stepped down from his position as MD of Chapel Down’s beer and cider arm Curious Brewery earlier this month, has taken on his new role with immediate effect.

Based in London, he has been recruited to increase Distill Ventures’ ability to “provide founders with access to the highest calibre support in the industry, helping them to sharpen their commercial edge while giving them the freedom and tools to become the most effective leaders they can be”, said the business.

Key to this would be developing portfolio companies’ profile with key industry stakeholders, said Frank Lampen, CEO and co-founder of Distill Ventures.

“We're thrilled to welcome Gareth to the team. His experience overseeing major growth at both BrewDog and Chapel Down lends itself perfectly to what we do here at Distill Ventures.

“We’re confident he will deliver on our ambitious portfolio growth plans across both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic categories, while ensuring that we continue to be one of the most rewarding and exciting places to work in the drinks industry,” said Lampen.

As MD, Bath would also be responsible for “ensuring that Distill Ventures maintains its reputation for being at the forefront of industry trends around the world, as the company continues its search for the smartest, most innovative drinks entrepreneurs globally”, he added.

In addition, Bath will manage the day-to-day operations of Distill Venture’s London-based team.

Bath said: “Distill Ventures has quickly developed its reputation for successfully building some of the most innovative brands in the industry, so joining the company and working alongside the best talent in drinks is an incredibly exciting opportunity. I look forward to finding and supporting the best founders across Europe to rapidly scale their businesses.”

Previous MD for craft brewer BrewDog, Bath joined Curious in October 2017 to reinforces Curious’ credentials as a “highly premium English lager with a winemaker’s complexity, style, intelligence and elegance”.

The appointment comes after Distill Ventures announced a partnership with Ritual Zero Proof in January 2020, further bolstering the company’s commitment to the growing non-alcoholic drink space.

Printer friendly version