Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based Founder operating in the Wine And Spirits space. If you think a Founder is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
James Watt
Co-Founder of BrewDog
James Bruce Watt co-founded BrewDog PLC in 2006 and serves as its Managing Director. James Watt has been Executive Director of BrewDog PLC since November 7, 2006.
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About BrewDog: BrewDog is a craft beer brewery that produces bottled and canned beers in a variety of styles.
Martin Dickie
Co-Founder of BrewDog
Martin Dickie is the co-founder of the rebellious craft beer and bar company BrewDog along with his business partner James Watt. Dickie is fully qualified master brewer, who is the driving force behind the company’s beer range. He frequently collaborates with other breweries such as Three Floyds, Stone and Mikkeller.
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About BrewDog: BrewDog is a craft beer brewery that produces bottled and canned beers in a variety of styles.
Stephen Finch
Founder and Managing Director of Vagabond Wines
Stephen Finch is the Founder and Director of VAGABOND and BOXCAR
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About BOXCAR, Vagabond Wines: Vagabond Wines is owns and operates wine bars and shops in the United Kingdom.
Nick Whitehurst
Co-Founder and Director of Watneys
Nick Whitehurst is the co-founder and director Watneys.
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About Figura Analytics Limited, Watneys: Watneys and Home Ales brands and they are hell-bent on returning them to their former glory.
Ben Pugh
Co-Founder of Farmdrop
Spent 10 years working in finance and loves thinking about new economic models. Previously sailed boats for a living and is a keen surfer. Dreams of supplying FarmDrop as an organic grower one day
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About Farmdrop: Farmdrop: the online supermarket that delivers fresher, fairer food & home essentials directly to your door.
Amelia Harvey
Co-Founder and Director of The Collective Dairy
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About The Collective Dairy: The Collective Dairy Their quest was simple… create an extraordinary yoghurt with an unbeatable taste!.
James Browm
Founder & CEO of Beer52
James Browm is a CEO & Founder of Beer52.com.
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About Beer52: Beer52 is the UK’s most popular craft beer club.
Fraser Doherty
Co-Founder of Beer52
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About Beer52, SuperJam: Beer52 is the UK’s most popular craft beer club.
Paolo Zanelli
Co-Founder and CEO of Pulp
Paolo is Pulp’s in-house sommelier and CEO. Prior to founding Pulp, Paolo worked in the financial industry, including the Singaporean sovereign fund GIC. Paolo is a WSET and UKSA certified sommelier and lifelong wine lover.
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About Pulp: Pulp allows its users to get the most diverse selection of wines from independent producers.
Riccardo Santoro
Co-Founder, currently Advisor of Pulp
Riccardo is a co-founder of Pulp. Riccardo has 9 years of experience in management consulting, the last 3 of which advising startups on growth strategies.
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About : Pulp allows its users to get the most diverse selection of wines from independent producers.
Marco Nardone
Founder & CEO of Wineapp
Marco Nardone is the Founder and CEO of Wineapp – UK’s largest app for on-demand wine delivery. www.wineapp.com / Available on iOS and Android. Wineapp is VC-backed by Rocket Internet and Speedinvest.
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About Wineapp: Mobile App – On-demand Fine Wine Delivery
CEO & Co-Founder of Garçon Wines
Entrepreneur & co-founder in drinks & travel: Garçon Wines – inventors of flat wine bottles Nightly.travel – hotel bookings with switch & save option
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About Garçon Wines: Inventors and granted IP holders of multi award-winning, flat wine bottles in 100% recycled PET
Joe McGirr
Founder and CEO of Boatyard Distillery
Joe McGirr is the founder and CEO at The Boatyard Distillery.
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About Boatyard Distillery: Boatyard Distillery is a farm-to-bottle distillery that produces farm to bottle organic spirits.
AF_initDataCallback({key: \’ds:1\'” alt=”” class=”wp-image-14850″ width=”154″ height=”152″/>James Miles
Managing Director & Co-Founder of Liv-ex
James Miles was born in Hong Kong and attended school and university in the UK. He started his career with Jardine Fleming Investment Management in Hong Kong in 1991, before becoming an equities analyst and strategist with Asia Equity (which later became Banque Paribas and then BNP Paribas). He moved to London in 1997 and left banking in March 2000 to set up Liv-ex.
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About Liv-ex: Liv-ex is the global marketplace for the wine trade, to whom we supply data, trading, technology and fulfilment services.
Tom Nicolson
Founder and Director of The Oxford Artisan Distillery
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About The Oxford Artisan Distillery: The Oxford Artisan Distillery is the very first distillery creating spirits in this ancient city’s long and illustrious history.
Kyle Paskett
Founder of Savage Vines
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About Savage Vines: Sustainability focused online wine retailer of organic and bio-dynamic wines from independent producers.
Lanre Akinlagun
Founder and CEO of Drinks.ng
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About Drinks.ng: Drinks.ng is a technology based company transforming the way beverages are shopped, sold and shipped online in Nigeria
Edward Mason
MD & Co-Founder of The Five Points Brewing Company
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About The Five Points Brewing Company: The Five Points is one of London’s best known craft breweries
Alessandra D’Onofrio
Founder of Wine Not Italy
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About Wine Not Italy: Wine Not Italy is a wine shop that puts technology at the service of tradition, the reference point for the sales of wines of high quality.
Sam Ulph
Founder & CEO of Starstock
Sam Incorporated the business in 2012 as Founder & Managing Director of StarStock Ltd. Sam has 12 years drinks industry experience working for Molson Coors, Pernod Ricard, S&N Heineken, C&C (Magners Cider) & Diageo.
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About Starstock: Starstock is a drinks marketplace.
David Jackson
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of EeBria
David Jackson is a Co-Founder & CEO at EeBria.
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About EeBria: EeBria is different from other websites.
Raymond Blanc
Founder of Brasserie Bar Co
Raymond is responsible for the creative direction of the menus at Brasserie Blanc. He has been pivotal in the events that have launched the new restaurants to the public, representing the brand to the press and local community. He works with Executive Chef Clive Fretwell to ensure that the dishes are not only superb in quality and flavour but also use seasonal, sustainably sourced ingredients. Raymond is best known as chef-patron and chairman of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, the two-starred Michelin hotel-restaurant in Oxfordshire. Raymond is a best-selling author, and his BBC television series have included the Very Hungry Frenchman and Kitchen Secrets. In 2008 Raymond was made an OBE and is one of only three Frenchmen ever to receive the award.
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About Brasserie Bar Co: Brasserie Bar Co operates within the premium casual drinking and dining market in the U.K.
Paul Tustain
Founder / Chairman of WhiskyInvestDirect
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About BullionVault, WhiskyInvestDirect: Opens up investment in maturing Scotch whisky to the retail investor.
Matt Lane
Founder of BeerBods
Matt founded BeerBods from the garden shed with a mortgage and growing family on the cards. He loves real beer and wants to share it with other people. BeerBods is now a gift to many happy subscribers who get to sip the latest and greatest beers at the same time each week. Matt Lane is on a mission to get us drinking better beer and see if he can’t just shake up conventional business thinking in the process. After attending the Do Lectures in 2012 Matt founded BeerBods, an online beer club and subscription service. He had no business plan and no investment, he went about it all wrong.
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About Beer Hawk, BeerBods, Woo Cooking Oils, ZX Ventures: BeerBods, an online beer club and subscription service, provides an online service to deliver beer to its members in the United Kingdom.
Alastair Harrison
Founder of Park Lane Champagne
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About Park Lane Champagne: Park Lane Champagne is providing high quality personalised champagne to some of the UK’s most prestigious organisations.
Robert Robinson
Co-Founder & Director of Notes Coffee
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About Notes Coffee: Notes is a collection of coffee shops & wine bars with 5 prime London locations in Canary Wharf, the City & the West End.
Fabio Ferreira
Co-Founder of Notes Coffee
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About Notes Coffee: Notes is a collection of coffee shops & wine bars with 5 prime London locations in Canary Wharf, the City & the West End.
Alex Wolpert
Founder of East London Liquor Company
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About East London Liquor Company: East London Liquor Company is a distillery producing and importing a range of quality spirits including gin, vodka, rum and whisky.
Julia Austin
Founder and Managing Director of Tyne Bank Brewery
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About Tyne Bank Brewery: Tyne Bank Brewery’s growth has been based on our strong brand and focus on quality craft beers.
Andrew Guise
Founder of Firestar Energy
Andrew Guise is a Founder at Firestar Energy.
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About Firestar Energy: Firestar is an intelligent and advanced new energy product, its refreshing crystal candy use time release technology.
Ian O’Donohue
Founder of Harry Brompton’s Ice Tea
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About Harry Brompton’s Ice Tea: Harry Brompton’s London Ice tea is the World’s first premium alcoholic Ice Tea.
John Robertson
Founder & CEO of Drinkly
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About Drinkly: Drinkly offers an on-demand service of alcoholic drinks to its customers in Edinburgh, UK.
Matthew Webb
Co-Founder & Product Manager of Olifun
Matthew Webb is Co-Founder & Product Manager at Olifun.
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About Olifun: Olifun is about spreading happiness. The joy of finding the pint of beer or that glass of wine.
Alex Carlton
Co-Founder and CEO of Stryyk
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About Stryyk: Stryyk is a brand which makes alcohol-free rum, vodka and gin.
Martin Williams
Founder and CEO of M Restaurants
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About M Restaurants: M Threadneedle Street; our award winning, multifaceted venue, houses two restaurants: Grill & Raw.
Ben Branson
Founder of Seedlip
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About Seedlip: Seedlip is maker of the world’s first non-alcoholic spirits.
Andrew Weeber
Founder and Chairman of Gusbourne
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About Gusbourne: Gusbourne is England’s most prestigious boutique wine producer.
Russ Wakeham
Co-Founder, CEO of Two Drifters Distillery
Russ Wakeham is a Co-Founder and CEO of Two Drifters Distillery.
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About Two Drifters Distillery: Two Drifters Distillery create the first carbon-negative rum distilleries in the world.
Russ Wakeham
Co-Founder, CEO of Two Drifters Distillery
Russ Wakeham is a Co-Founder and CEO of Two Drifters Distillery.
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About Two Drifters Distillery: Two Drifters Distillery create the first carbon-negative rum distilleries in the world.
Moez Seraly
Founder & CEO of Sipp
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About Sipp: sipp prides itself on being the UK’s best-loved wine company.
Moez Seraly
Founder & CEO of Sipp
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About Sipp: sipp prides itself on being the UK’s best-loved wine company.
Melissa Del Bono
Founder and Creative Director of Meli Melo
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About Meli Melo: Meli Melo is a British handbag label, with Italian heritage.
Catherine Miller
Co-Founder of Himachal Cider
Catherine Miller is the firm’s chief charcutier.
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About Himachal Cider: Himachal Cider is a premium cider hand crafted in the foothills of the majestic Himalayan range.
Catherine Miller
Co-Founder of Himachal Cider
Catherine Miller is the firm’s chief charcutier.
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About Himachal Cider: Himachal Cider is a premium cider hand crafted in the foothills of the majestic Himalayan range.
Jack Reid
Co-Founder of Highshot
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About Highshot: Highshot is Europe’s first members-only cocktail club, offering members one complementary drink every day at London’s best bars.
