Alex Lawrence is an award-winning bartender and consultant. He is the Co-Founder of Langstane Liquor, the spirits design company behind Porter’s Gin, Glasshouse Whisky and Send a Negroni.

Alex is also the Global Group Bar Manager for the Mr Lyan brand, overseeing the creative development and running of Ryan Chetiyawardana’s portfolio of bars; Lyaness in London, Super Lyan in Amsterdam and Silver Lyan in Washington.

A former lifestyle journalist covering everything from fashion and beauty for The Daily Telegraph to restaurant and theatre reviews for Where London Magazine, Sandrae is one half of The Cocktail Lovers, the eponymous magazine, website, events and consumer workshops company.

Sandrae is a co-chair on the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards judging panel and was voted no. 67 on the Bar World Top 100 people in the drinks industry list, 2020.

The duo behind London Cocktail Week and consultants, contributors and connectors for the drinks industry, Hannah and Siobhan are two of the leading faces of the global cocktail scene.

Via their consultancy business HANDS, they have worked on almost all elements of brand building for both a trade and consumer audience and worked as both client and agency in all scenarios.

Ryan Chetiyawardana (A.K.A Mr Lyan) has been involved in several of the world’s best bars for over 18 years.

Ryan helps design and judge several competitions whilst acting as a mentor to competitors, and helping shape the new wave of competitions. Aside from cocktail and bar competitions, Ryan has been a judge for the GQ Food & Drinks Awards, the Guild of Food Writer’s awards, and the Fortnum & Mason Food & Drinks Awards. His venues include Lyaness (London), Super Lyan (Amsterdam) and Silver Lyan (Washington D.C).

As a sommelier, Dawn has worked in numerous top restaurants including Zuma, Gordon Ramsey’s Boxwood Café and The Square. In addition Dawn opened and ran The Ledbury, gaining a Michelin star in the process.

It was during her time at Selfridges that Dawn gained her Master of Wine qualification and she now heads up the buying team for Speciality Drinks, where she has developed a passion for the spirits category, and in particular rum, cognac, agave spirits and, of course, whisky.

Angus Winchester is a 51yr old with over 33 years working in the drinks and hospitality world. Winner of three individual Spirited Awards (International Brand Ambassador ’12; Golden Spirit ’14 and Bar Mentor ’16). Bar 5-Day graduate.

Top 100 Global Influential list ‘19/’20). Global Education Director for BCB (Berlin, Brooklyn, Sao Paulo and Singapore). Former Global Brand Ambassador for Tanqueray Gins. International bar consultant. Snappy dresser and frequent flyer.

Declan McGurk is the reigning Commercial Director of The Boatyard Distillery in Ireland. This follows a seven-year tenure as the Director of Bars at the historic Savoy, London. The Savoy bars are comprised of both the Beaufort Bar and the American Bar, the latter having previously won World’s Best Bar in 2017, Worlds 50 best; and World’s Best Bar, Spirited Awards 2018.

Earlier in his career, back in 2002, Declan’s employers Scottish and Newcastle awarded him National Bar Tender of the year.

Ian made his mark in the hotel business by transforming a Buenos Aires ruin into a hotel that graced the pages of Harpers, Vogue and Elle Décor. The hotel was also included in the Condé Nast Traveller ‘Hot List’ and voted amongst the top 20 best new boutique hotels in the world.

In 2008 he relocated to Cognac where he and his business partner, Miko Abouaf, continue to craft an exciting range of spirits, notably their flagship product, Pink Pepper Gin.

As the founder of World of Zing and a regular presenter on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, Pritesh Mody is renowned as one of the UK’s leading drinks experts.

World of Zing’s cocktails are crafted in small batches using the finest spirits, handmade liqueurs and bespoke bitters.

The Zing team is now responsible for designing and producing cocktails for some of the UK’s most respected hospitality operators, including The Langham Hotel, The Belmond British Pullman, Everyman Cinemas and more.

As the Diageo New to Worlds Brands Global Ambassador, Jenna Ba works with some of Diageo’s most dynamic and fast-growing global portfolios, including Bulleit American Whiskey and Haig Club.

Jenna’s industry experience is vast. From working in private members clubs in London (The Brompton Club) to luxury hotel bars (Chiltern Firehouse), to brand activations and events with Sweet + Chilli, to independent consulting, having helped open bars from Mykonos to Mumbai, and finally joining the Diageo fold. Jenna is a keen advocate for the democratization of cocktail culture, committed to making great drinks accessible to all.

Hannah has managed and trained bar teams (Milk & Honey, Bungalow 8, Boisdale), passing down her skills from her mentors to her mentees; consulted on bar openings (Nimb Copenhagen, GloGlo’s) and travelled the world as a global brand ambassador.

Hannah set up The Mixing Class to offer education that benefits the industry as well as personal progression. The founding principle is a socially responsible business model that will bring young Londoners into the hospitality industry through education with a long-term goal of offering an incubator for learning hospitality skills in addition to formal spirits qualifications.

Deano Moncrieffe founded Equal Measures with the ambition of changing the conversation about ethnicity in the industry. Tired of experiencing and witnessing glass ceilings in place for those of marginalised backgrounds and motivated by a sense that the industry favoured the progression of a narrow field of ethnicity, he began the platform in a bid to encourage more equitable recruitment and promotion practices.

Deano’s ambition is that Equal Measures will promote conversations that advance positive change, but he believes that doing the work comes first. Deano founded Equal Measures in 2020.

Entrepreneurial, analytical and inquisitive. Passionate about investing in, building and scaling FMCG startups. Co-Founder of drinks startup and over 5 years’ experience in the drinks industry advising companies on a wide range of investment, commercial and legal matters.

With a background spanning just over twenty-five years in the event bar industry, Russell brings a wealth of experience to his role as M.D. His CV includes high-end Mayfair nightclubs such as The Box in London, as well as bars as far afield as NYC and Sydney. The knowledge gained from these diverse roles, combined with his passion for all things ‘cocktails’, gives him a unique ability to execute the perfect project.

With almost 15 years of experience in hospitality, Samuel Boulton now owns multiple bars, including the award winner The Pineapple Club in Birmingham, with awards in employability from both CLASS Magazine and The Drinks Trust. Boulton is also on the Spirits Judging Committee for the world renowned IWSC. In 2021 Boulton turned from a bartender to an author with his book The Vermouth Ambassadors Guide to Modern Drinking, and is now working on his second book “Mixing with Kokushu” a guide to mixing with Japanese alcohol.

Millie Milliken is an award-winning drinks and hospitality journalist with nearly 10 years of food, drink and events writing experience in print and digital publishing. She was awarded the 2022 IWSC Spirits Communicator of the Year trophy and is currently contributing regularly to Master of Malt, Club Oenologique, Vinepair, Whisky Magazine, Global Drinks Intel and Courier Media.

She is also the community manager for The Drinks Trust's Drinks community platform and head of content for the OurWhisky Foundation.

Jaye is the Director of Identity Drinks Brands Ltd and has been in hospitality since the age of 15 years old, starting her career at her family’s bakery. Those in Jaye’s network are familiar with her infectious passion and enthusiasm for working in the spirits industry. A few decades in, she has successfully driven the brand equity of products such as Plantation rum, Crystal Head vodka and Funkin, she possesses an irrefutable network of industry contacts and has a proven track record of managing various teams to secure individual targets…and most importantly significant company growth!

Paul has been working in the drinks industry in some capacity or another for 28 years. 16 years ago he founded The Hide Bar in London, where he now also co-owns The Arbitrager and Demon, Wise & Partners. He has consulted for bars and brands around the world, including 7 years living in Asia, where he was also Associate Editor of Drink Magazine.

In 2018 he created Everleaf non-alcoholic aperitifs, in part to meet demand for no and low products in his bars, and in part to combine his two passions of plant conservation and drinks.

West London born and bred, Sly grew up around Caribbean culture and rum. When he heard his favourite local bar was destined for closure, he made the choice to invest his savings into keeping it open and dedicated his time to reviving an institution founded almost 20 years ago.

In the last decade Sly has seen Trailer Happiness receive multiple awards including “Best Rum List” at Imbibe. He was also named “Rum Champion” by Think Rum, judged several global spirits awards and cocktail competitions, and was recently named in the 100 most influential people in the global bar industry (Drinks International). After the Grenfell Tower Disaster of 2017, Augustin got together with members of the hospitality community to found Community Spirit, which raised funds for the survivors.

Claire Warner has worked in the drinks industry for over 20 years, and throughout that time has worn many hats – an award-winning bartender, ambassador, consultant, writer, and spirits judge, and finally, brand and spirit innovator. A tireless advocate for better health and wellness within the hospitality industry, Warner is credited with beginning the movement towards conscious consumption within the drinks industry, creating the ‘Drink, Eat, Live’ platform in 2011.

Today, Claire is best known as the co-founder of Æcorn, a range of British non-alcoholic aperitifs and sister brand to Seedlip, the non-alcoholic category pioneer.

Warner was the Tales of the Cocktail Co-Chair for the Culture and Co-Chair of the Spirited Awards for many years, before accepting a seat on the board of directors for the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation in 2022.

Drawing on her experience as a Brand Ambassador, Bartender and Venue Manager; Cyan utilised her 20 years of experience to setup an independent drinks consultancy, in order to help Five star Hotels, and independent bars and restaurants to realise their drinks programs.

In 2021- 2022 she has developed the beverage programs, opened and consulted on venues in London’s: Kings Cross, Soho, Carnaby Street, Shoreditch and Bromley. Successfully launched a modern Taiwanese Eatery; Mr Ji with renowned chefs Zijun Meng and Ana Gonçalves (TĀTĀ Eatery, TÓU) on Old Compton Street and Korean Dinner Party (KDP) separately with a new restaurant group. She implemented and opened the top floor Cocktail Bar Sweeties at the Standard Hotel, a Hip Hop loft inspired Speakeasy in Shoreditch and a high end cocktail wine bar restaurant, Bantof.

Georgie Bell is the Global Head of Advocacy for the Incubation Brands at Bacardi. Previous to this she was the Global Malts Ambassador, a role she held across various companies for 8 years. Her career started in Edinburgh working as a bartender while studying at the University of Edinburgh. Shortly after graduation she gained a second degree in distilling with the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and gained a scholarship to the Worshipful Company of Distillers for gaining the highest mark in the UK on completion.

Since then she has become a liveryman of the WCD, and is a Keeper of the Quaich. She’s passionate about diversity, inclusion and democratisation of the whisky industry – opening the whisky category up to a wider audience through making change from the inside out – and education on not just the whisky category but spirits production in general.

Sam Boevey came to London in 2017 as a Bartender with The Cocktail Club (formally London Cocktail Club) and moved up the ranks to become Head Bartender within a year and onto the Head of Training. While there, he won multiple cocktail competitions and received the Class Awards' "UK's Best Emerging Bartender" in 2019. After a stint working in Murder Inc, Sam now holds the General Manager role at the recently opened "Royal Cocktail Exchange" and runs a Photography/ Videography business while planning his own bar.

He also supported as the trainer for our pilot Forming Foundations programme, providing WSET Level 1 in Spirits (via The Mixing Class), vocational training, and cocktail masterclasses to 11 new diverse bartenders.