About Us
Based in Edinburgh, the Artisanal Spirits Company (ASC) owns The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), Single Cask Nation (SCN) and J.G. Thomson (JGT), as well as operating a cask storage, bottling and logistics facility in Scotland.
Owning over 17,000 casks primarily comprising Single Malt Scotch Whisky, ASC’s stock includes outstanding whisky (and other spirits) from 150 different distilleries across 20 countries.
With proven e-commerce reach and a growing family of brands, ASC is building a portfolio of limited-edition and small-batch whisky and other spirits brands for a global movement of discerning consumers – delivering revenue of c.£23 million in FY23 with over 80% of revenue generated online, predominantly from outside the UK, with presence in the other key global whisky markets including USA, China, Europe, Japan, Australia and Taiwan.
ASC has a pioneering business model, a substantial and growing addressable market presenting a long-term global growth opportunity and a strong and resilient business primed to deliver growth.
Our Culture
Our teams share a common spirit, and an ability to get things done.
We have shared goals and behaviours: Respect, Grit and Determination, Innovation, and Progression, driven by people where diversity in thought and action is our core strength.
These values are what we stand for. They are how we hold ourselves to account and how we depend on each other. This is how we live and breathe.
Respect
At The Artisanal Spirits Company, we put Respect at the forefront of our culture and our member first mindset. It’s how we welcome anyone into our world and sets it as a cornerstone to build on. We treat all people with respect in any situation by offering a way to communicate openly and honestly.
Innovation
Being innovative is in our DNA. The founder of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Pip Hills, was the ultimate innovator as he pursued his ambition to bring single cask whisky to our members.
We bring this passion for creativity and innovation to everything we do. We create and innovate to develop and grow as people and as an organisation.
Grit & Determination
We know that some challenges are tough and will take monumental effort, but we will all do our best to achieve our shared goals as a team. We agree there is a ‘right to challenge’ each other and that we do so in a respectful and supportive way, so that in the end we are rewarded with success as a team in which we have all played our part.
Unique
We embrace how we are all different – our diversity is our strength. We seek out people who think differently – they bring so much to ASC in terms of personal commitment and expert knowledge whatever their role.
We benefit from the fact that the sum of our team is greater than the individual parts. Our ‘uniqueness’ makes us stronger – and, all together as one, unique.
Progressive
As we encourage our members to constantly explore new flavours in the whisky and spirits we offer and try new experiences, we encourage ourselves to explore new opportunities and learning. We all actively participate in creating an environment that stimulates this and thrives.
Growth Strategy
We have a clear framework for profitable growth that gives structure to our approach and underpins both our successful delivery to date and our future vision:
Our Purpose
To captivate a global community of whisky adventurers
Our Proposition
We create and sell outstanding, limited-edition whisky & experiences around the world
Our Ambition
To create a high quality, highly profitable and cash generative premium global business
Strategic Pillars
Whisky
Creating & selling outstanding limited edition whisky
Membership
A global community of whisky adventurers
Experiences
Delivering the world’s best whisky experiences
New Brands & Audiences
Creating a premium global spirits business
People
Recruit, retain and train the best
Strengths
Pioneering Model
Long-term Global Growth Opportunity
Robust Business, Primed to Deliver
Investment Case:
A Unique and Exciting Opportunity
Our ambition is to create a high quality, highly profitable & cash generative premium global business.
Following investment in people and systems since IPO, we are now on course to deliver revenue growth that delivers at a greater proportion to the bottom line with continued profit growth driving strong cash conversion.
Reasons to Invest
Investing in The Artisanal Spirits Company is an exciting prospect because:
1. Robust Business, Primed to Deliver
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Strong financials – high gross margin & contribution; over 60% and 50% respectively
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Unique and successful sourcing, curation & distribution strategy
- Whisky stock holding to satisfy forecast for the foreseeable future
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Substantial value creation through appreciating cask stock value
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Experienced Board and Management leading a passionate and engaged team
2. Pioneering Model
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Loyal, valuable and growing global membership
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Constant stream of unique, award-winning products
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Relentless focus on innovation and delivering outstanding experiences
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Direct to consumer with proven data-rich e-commerce platform & digital content
3. Long-term Global Growth Opportunity
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Significant and growing addressable market
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Positioned for increased premiumisation and e-commerce growth
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Clear flightpath to profitable cash generation in the short to medium term
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Building a growing portfolio of limited-edition spirits brands
We create and sell limited-edition whisky & experiences around the world.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s origins are unconventional and provide an endless discovery of whisky, friendship and fun. We started out in 1983 with a few friends in Edinburgh sharing single cask whisky and experiencing a flavour epiphany.
We bring together whiskies from more than 150 distilleries around the world to captivate a global community of whisky adventurers.
Premium
>£90
ASP (exc. VAT)
Over 60% gross margin
Buy from
>150
Distilleries
E-Commerce
>80%
of sales made online
Bottle
>200,000
Bottles produced in 2023
Global
65%
from countries outside the UK
Limited Edition
250
Typically only 250 bottles per cask
Direct to
Consumer
>90%
of revenue is D2C
Membership
>40,000
Loyal, paying, members across the world
Outstanding Assets
Over
17,000
Casks
Equivalent to over 5 million bottles
Current market value
>£100m
Around
£480m
Notional retail value
Average age of 2023 bottlings of
13
Years
Ranging from 7 years to our oldest bottling to date, our 40 year old anniversary bottle
In 2023, we bottled whisky from 54 different cask wood types, with around a quarter peated and
45%
Ex-sherry cask
Single Cask Nation sources, curates and bottles single cask whiskies and other spirits.
Selling both online and via traditional retail channels to it’s following of over 10,000 whisky enthusiasts in the USA and other key international markets.
Launched in the UK in late 2021, J.G. Thomson has a focus on outstanding small batch blended malt whiskies and other spirits.
Available both through direct-to-consumers inline sales and through traditional retail channels.
Our Non-Executive Directors
Mark Hunter
Non-Executive Chair and Chair of the Nomination Committee
Mark was appointed as a Director on 24 March 2021.
Mark is the former President and CEO of MolsonCoors Brewing Company, a top five global brewer which had revenues of $10.8 billion, EBITDA of $2.45 billion and operations in over 25 markets globally as at 31 December 2018 (the end of the last accounting period before Mark retired). Mark retired from this role on 30 September 2019.
Mark is a former Non-Executive Director of TreeHouse Foods Inc, a US listed, leading manufacturer and distributor of private label packaged foods and beverages. Mark was a Director from April 2020 to April 2024 and was chair of the the Audit Committee as well as a member of the Long Range Planning Committee.
Mark has 35 years of marketing, sales and business unit leadership experience in North America, Europe and internationally. He has a track record of successful portfolio development, mergers and acquisitions, business integration and synergy delivery including the $12 billion acquisition of MillerCoors in the US and multiple brand acquisitions.
He is a people-orientated leader who believes passionately in clarity of purpose and ambition, aligning people to build enabling cultures and investing to build leadership capability, engagement and executional brilliance.
Paul Skipworth
Non-Executive Deputy Chair
Paul was appointed as a Director on 30 March 2015.
Paul started his career in corporate strategy consulting for ten years at LEK Consulting, and was then a Partner in an Asian based venture capital fund. Paul then spent 13 years building consumer brands and leading consumer companies globally at LVMH, working across consumer markets in Europe, Asia Pacific and the US. Paul was CEO and COO of Glenmorangie for five years, Regional Director Asia Pacific at Moet Hennessy, Senior Vice President of Strategy for Moet Hennessy and was a Partner in L Capital, LVMH’s sponsored private equity fund focused on the consumer sector.
Paul is a Partner of Inverleith LLP and an Independent Director and Chair of the Remuneration & Nomination Committee at Allied Blenders & Distillers plc, India.
Mark Bedingham
Non-Executive Director
Mark was appointed as a Director on 1 September 2015.
Mark spent 20 years as the Regional Managing Director of Moet Hennessy Asia-Pacific, spearheading the Asia-Pacific growth of Moet Hennessy’s portfolio of luxury wines and spirits, including Veuve Clicquot, Moet et Chandon, Hennessy, Dom Perignon, Krug and Glenmorangie, turning the region into the largest contributor to the Moet Hennessy Group’s global turnover and profit. During this time, he also spent seven years as a non-executive director of the DFS Group. Part of the LVMH Group, DFS is a major travel retail company with a network of duty-free stores in major airports, as well as multibrand Galleria stores in key locations in Asia Pacific.
From 1997 to 2002, Mark was a director of Jardine Pacific, a subsidiary of Jardine Matheson.
More recently Mark is the vice chair and part of the founder investor group in Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corporation, a SPAC, which is listed on the NYSE and completed a business combination with Wheels Up, the leading private aviation company in the US. He has also been, until recently, Chairman of two hospitality and restaurant companies: CELAVI, based in Singapore with operations in Dubai, Tokyo and Taipei and Crystal Jade with over 60 outlets in Asia.
Gavin Hewitt CMG
Non-Executive Director
Gavin was appointed as a Director on 27 March 2015.
Gavin was the Chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, the industry’s trade organisation with a global remit, from October 2003 to December 2013. In November 2011 Gavin was elected as president of spiritsEUROPE (previously The European Spirits Organisation – CEPS and representing the whole spirits industry in Europe) and held this role in conjunction with his position at the Scotch Whisky Association.
Gavin was the Non-Executive Chair of Bladnoch Distillery Limited (2015 to 2017) and rejoined the Board of Bladnoch Distillery as a Non-Executive Director in 2024.
Before working in the alcohol industry, Gavin served in the British Diplomatic Service (1970-2003) and between 1994 and 2003 was successively the British Ambassador to Croatia, Finland and Belgium acquiring considerable expertise in international political and EU trade matters and a close connection with many large UK companies operating overseas. He is a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), a Master of the Quaich and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers.
Lesley Jackson
Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee
Lesley was appointed as a Director on 2 June 2021.
Lesley is a Chartered Accountant, having qualified with KPMG. She was the Group Chief Financial Officer for Stock Spirits PLC from 2011 to 2017, prior to which she held similar positions at William Grant & Sons, and at United Breweries (an Indian listed public company).
She is a Non-Executive Director for Aberforth Geared value and income Trust PLC. She has previously held Non-Executive Director appointments for Aberforth split Level Income Trust PLC, Devro PLC ( where she served as Audit Committee Chair and Senior Independent Director) and Trackwise Designs PLC (where she also chaired both the Audit and Remuneration Committees).
Lesley has extensive finance and business experience from her roles in international manufacturing businesses.
Helen Page
Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee
Helen was appointed as a Director on 2 June 2021.
Helen has over 30 years experience across the Financial Services, Retail, Charity and Food and Drinks sectors, and is an experienced PLC Executive, Non-Executive Director and Board Chair. She has geographical experience across the UK, Europe, USA and Australasia.
In addition to The Artisanal Spirits Company, she is a Non-Executive Director of Bank of Ireland UK, The Scottish FA and Chair of Label Sessions. She is also a Board Trustee of both Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance and The SSPCA.
Helen’s plc executive career was predominantly spent in Financial Services and Retail, holding executive roles at RBS Group, National Australia Bank, CYBG, Virgin Money, Argos and Abbey (now Santander). Her executive career spanned a number of senior roles and functions, including Marketing, Strategy, Innovation, Communications, Product Management, Complaint Handling and ESG.
Our Executive Team
Andrew Dane
Chief Executive Officer
Andrew was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in January 2023 (Previously Finance Director of the Company since August 2020), and is responsible for creating and executing the strategy of the company, defining vision, mission and purpose of the business.
Andrew is a highly strategic and commercial leader, with a collaborative, people focus and experience of high growth environments, international operations, corporate transactions, team building and capital investments. He is accountable for the delivery of the group results and performance and seeks to drive the business by demonstrating inspiring leadership, leading by example and developing a strong culture.
Since joining, Andrew’s focus has been on delivering the company’s ambition of creating a high quality, highly profitable & cash generative, premium global business. To support this, he has helped to deliver the flotation of the Artisanal Spirits Company on the AIM market, expansion for SMWS in markets such as Taiwan, Vietnam and Korea as well as leading the acquisition of Single Cask Nation at the start of 2024.
Prior to joining the Company, Andrew was the Finance Director at Argent Energy, helping grow the business from approximately £50 million turnover in 2014 to around £350 million turnover in 2020. He previously worked for eight years at KPMG transaction services in London, Edinburgh and Toronto, working on over 100 transactions covering multiple sectors, business sizes and geographies.
Andrew is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers.
Billy McCarter
Chief Financial Officer
Billy was appointed as Chief Financial Officer in May 2023 (previously Group Financial Controller of the company since February 2022) and as leader of the Finance, People, Technology and Legal Teams is responsible for the financial governance and compliance of the company alongside the Financial, People and Technology strategies that support the long-term objectives of the Group.
A qualified accountant with around 20 years of experience in finance roles, Billy’s career incorporates experience across different sizes of organisation, from SME’s to multinational, the last 10 years in senior management and executive roles delivering strong, clear, future focused leadership.
Having spent 8 years within Diageo prior to his time at ASC, Billy has over 10 years’ experience in the Whisky and spirits industry, covering distillation and maturation, packaging, strategy setting and productivity efficiency projects.
Kai Ivalo
Whisky Director
Kai joined the Group in December 2004.
Kai Ivalo leads the whisky and supply chain teams at The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) and the Artisanal Spirits Company plc, where he has been a vital part of the team for over 20 years. Throughout this time, Kai has played a significant role in the Society’s growth, helping to build and maintain its reputation as a leader in single cask, single malt Scotch whisky. With his extensive expertise, he has been instrumental in sourcing rare and unique casks, ensuring members enjoy a diverse range of exceptional whiskies.
In his role, Kai oversees the entire supply chain process, from sourcing and selecting the finest casks to leading liquid new product development and production. His commitment to quality and authenticity has been crucial in maintaining SMWS’s reputation. His contribution has been instrumental in helping the Society to expand its global reach, bringing its unique whisky experiences to a growing community of enthusiasts worldwide.
Recognized for his contributions to the Scotch whisky industry, Kai is a Keeper of the Quaich and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers, honours that acknowledge his dedication to the Scotch whisky industry.
Laura Hardie
Head of People
Laura joined the Group in October 2021.
With over three years at Artisanal Spirits Company, Laura leads our People team, driving initiatives that enhance employee performance and engagement, enabling our people to work to their potential. Prior to joining us, Laura spent 14 years in regional retail management, specialising in learning and development. She has extensive experience in fostering talent and optimizing people operations is instrumental in cultivating our innovative and collaborative culture.
Laura has a CIPD Level qualification in People Management.
Steve Hawley
America Director
Steve joined the Group in January 2024.
Steve manages our entire portfolio in the Americas, overseeing strategy, marketing and sales. Prior to joining the Group Steve first cut his teeth in the advertising world with a focus on the beverage alcohol category. In 2010 he escaped advertising and was part of the original team that built America’s first great single malt whiskey distillery and brand, Westland Distillery in Seattle, Washington.
Steve also serves as the President of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission, a trade group of over 100 distilleries which protects and promotes the category across the globe.
Christina Leung
Asia Director
Christina joined the Group in May 2017.
After 14 years of brand marketing & integrated communication experiences, Christina started her journey in wine & spirits with Moet Hennessy Diageo China as Marketing Director and Communication/PR Director between 2010 and 2016. Her passion for whisky led to her to the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in 2017, extending the Society’s footprint in Asia and growing membership to over 2,000 in China.
Christina has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry.
Matt Bailey
Europe Director
Matt joined the group in September 2015.
Since 2015, Matt has been growing the membership of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Australia, progressing from ambassador to branch director, and as of 2024 has taken on a new role within ASC as Managing Director for Europe. With his new role, he’ll oversee the growth of our European & UK membership and put his skills in whisky, marketing, and member communications to use through building innovative campaigns, exciting experiences, and a focus on our ‘whisky first, member obsessed’ mantra.
Our People
People are at the heart of everything we do.
Our people drive our success.
From our humble beginnings in Leith, we have grown into a worldwide organisation with incredible teams across the globe. Our head office is still based at The Vaults in Leith where it all started, with a team of people working on our multi award-winning Spirits, in Production, Marketing & E-Commerce, Finance and Member Services. We also have an International team at HQ who work with teams in China, the US, Japan, Australia and more than 20 other countries globally.
Our members in Europe are looked after by passionate country managers and a network of more than forty brand ambassadors and we have another core team based at our spiritual home in Leith, Edinburgh. We are proud of the diversity and variety of people we work with, who bring exciting new ideas to explore, all enriching the culture in the company.
Apart from all this we have four fantastic Members’ Rooms in the UK, in Edinburgh, Leith, Glasgow and London, where teams provide entertainment to our members and guests. We pride ourselves on being experts on flavour and on whisky. We are educators, entertainers, hosts, providing a home from home. We include everyone and do so in a rather unconventional way.
And our partners are critical to how we operate. The people at the warehouses across Scotland where we store our whiskies, the distillery people around the world who supply us with wonderful casks, cooperages for our wood, the bottlers we work with, creative agencies, our Tasting Panel, all play a part in the alchemy of our craft.
Our Job Opportunities
Kitchen Assistant
SMWS Bath Street, Glasgow
Vacancy listed 12/12/2024