Former Bacardi exec appointed chair of The Drinks Trust

Guy Lawrence, CEO of Brockmans Gin and former Bacardi brand chief, has been officially appointed the new chair of The Drinks Trust, replacing Troy Christensen.

Lawrence, who spent 16 years at international spirits company Bacardi, has been appointed as the new chair of the charity following Troy Christensen’s successful two-year tenure.

The Brockmans Gin CEO forst joined the charity’s board of trustees in 2016 and pledged to use his extensive expertise and contacts to raise further the profile of The Drinks Trust within the UK drinks industry and encourage an increase in engagement and financial support from the wider trade.

Lawrence’s two-year appointment as Chair was announced at The Vintners’ Company Annual Lunch in aid of The Drinks Trust, attended by 150 senior members of the drinks trade and held at Vintners’ Hall on Friday 13 January.

He said at the event: “The Drinks Trust provides an important part of the solution to assist in tackling the skills and staff shortage, the financial needs and the wellbeing of the industry staff, and in turn, the well-being of industry businesses like your own. But with greater levels of support, comes a greater need for funding.

“So in 2023, fundraising is our charity’s highest priority; we need you to invest in this charity you asked us to create. Most industry businesses do, but some do not, and I would call on those who don’t presently, to join us in our work and invest in the industry in doing so.”

At the end of the lunch, a cheque for £12,000 was presented to The Drinks Trust’s Chair Guy Lawrence by The Vintners’ Company’s master Edward Berry.

In other news, on premise sales are still well below pre-Covid levels despite year-on-year growth in the first week of January, as inflationary pressures and rail strikes hinder the on trade, data from CGA by NielsenIQ’s Drinks Recovery Tracker shows. Read more on that here.