Speakers

Lesley Ann Gray joined Kantar Worldpanel in 2018 as its Strategic lead for Scotland. With over 30 years’ experience in the Scottish food and drink industry she works across Scotland’s Food and Drink sector, collaborating with companies and brands of all sizes, in addition to retailers, the public sector and academics. She helps them to understand and decode shopper behaviour in order to grow.

Frances Jack is Head of Research Strategy & Flavour at the Scotch Whisky Research Institute (SWRI). She leads strategic research programmes focused on flavour science, sensory perception, and innovation across Scotch whisky production. Frances works closely with industry partners to translate scientific insight into practical applications that support quality, consistency, and long‑term sustainability within the Scotch whisky sector.

David Lee has hosted more than 500 events - more than 300 in-person and 200+ online. These have included policy conferences on a wide range of subjects, as well as election hustings, awards ceremonies, trade shows, and seminars. He has hosted the seminar stage at In-Drinks Glasgow and chaired the inaugural Scottish Distillers' Conference in autumn 2024. In 2025, he will chair the Distillers event again, as well as a new Whisky Conference.  
David has also presented more than 100 podcasts, and has a successful media training business.  

He has run his own company since 2009 and was previously a daily newspaper journalist for 20 years, latterly Senior Assistant Editor at The Scotsman.  
Away from work, he is an obsessive coastal rower, and an angry footballer of declining ability. He has four grown-up children and two border collies. 

Phil is the Client service director for UK and Ireland at CGA working with an array of drinks supplier business, wholesalers and licensees to understand the opportunities and challenges that exist in the on trade. Phil has worked extensively in multiple markets in his career, advising on NPD strategy and sales optimization for the global alcohol supply businesses

Kami Newton is a sensory perception strategist with 30 years of experience in the drinks industry, predominantly focused on how flavour is perceived, interpreted, and communicated. Kami has trained international spirits ambassadors, visitor centre teams, sensory and production teams, and delivered education across all spirits categories. He is a regular contributor to Unfiltered, Stramash, and Flavorist and Perfumer publications, and is an active member of The British Society of Flavourists. Kami's belief is that flavour is not something we simply taste, rather, it is something we construct, and understanding that changes everything.

Tom Nichol has been in the distilling industry for over 50 years and has an unrivalled knowledge in spirit making. His unique and specialised experience in whisky, vodka, neutral spirit and gin distillation gives him an expertise that is unparalleled in the industry . 

Tom views his extensive experience to date as an extended apprenticeship for making spirits. By working with other spirits and mastering each trade, he has the unique understanding to take on the complexity of distilling gin. 

Tom said: “Everything I had learnt throughout my career had helped me reach the ultimate pinnacle of becoming Master Distiller of Tanqueray. 

Tom is now distilling gin for various other distillers since retiring from Tanqueray in July 2015.

TRKR, part of the NIQ Partner network, supports FMCG suppliers across all categories, with a specific focus on Category Management and New Product Development. Clients ranging from Peperami and McBride, to BrewDog and Albert Bartlett.
Mark is co-founder & Insight Director at TRKR, leading Category Management and Bespoke Insight projects for clients. Mark not only supports clients with accessing EPOS and Panel data from NIQ and Kantar, he also then creates compelling retail trade arguments and often presents to retail buyers alongside TRKR clients as their outsourced insight expert.
Mark has helped several brands achieve national listings with Tesco and Sainsbury’s in particular, as well as winning private label tenders with M&S.

Prior to TRKR, Mark spent 15 years at Kantar Worldpanel as Business Unit Director where he headed up the Ireland and Scotland business units, responsible for a combined turnover of £6m.

Olivier Ward is a spirits industry consultant, gin expert and published author, with 15 years of experience working across four continents. He is the founder of Everglow Spirits, a consultancy and education platform specialising in liquid development, brand strategy, and route-to-market planning for craft distilleries. 
 
Olivier has worked with William Grant & Sons, Fever-Tree, Diageo/Distilled Ventures, Hayman's, Tarquin's, and Warner's, as well as commissioned new distilleries in Australia, India, Lebanon, and Ethiopia. His approach connects liquid, brand, and commercial planning as a single system, rather than separate disciplines. 
 
Olivier is the author of Gin Distilled, and the founder and former publisher of Gin Foundry. , He co-founded the Junipalooza gin festival, and is Head Judge for Gin at the IWSC. 
 
He is also the author of the UK Distilling Census — an annual data-led report on the state of the craft spirits industry in Britain. 

Dave Wilkinson graduated from Heriot-Watt in 2013 with an MSc in Brewing & DIstilling, then had a short stint in his hometown, helping Durham Gin set up and developing their gin recipe. He has been Head Distiller at Edinburgh Gin for 12 years, initially as part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership, then a permanent employee since 2016. In that time, he has been involved with the development of a wide variety of gins within the Edinburgh Gin range and  overseen the movement of production into a new distillery at The Arches.

Stuart Cassells is a leader at the intersection of Scotland's whisky, tourism and cultural economy. As former General Manager of The Macallan Estate, he led the transformation of the world's most iconic single malt destination, and as former General Manager of The Glenturret and The Famous Grouse Experience, he led a whisky visitor attraction into multiple award-winning success - earning recognition as World Whisky Awards Global Visitor Attraction Manager of the Year.

Most recently, Stuart directed the global sales of The Macallan's TimeSpace as Global Head of Private Client Management and of Artistry in Oak 85 years old by Gordon & MacPhail — the world's oldest whisky — building Ultra-High-Net-Worth relationships across the world.

Beyond whisky, Stuart is the founder and former front man of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, the globally famous bagpipe band with over a million album sales, and a BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year. He is a regular broadcaster, MC and keynote speaker.

This year he launched 'The Blether' project to inspire more connection through sharing whisky and storytelling. He brings energy, optimism and a deep belief in the power of Scottish stories to every stage he steps onto.

Gareth Roberts is a consultant to distillers on business development and project management, specialising in energy-efficient and low carbon distilling.

Prior to this, he spent 30 years as an architect, the last 15 years in the practice he founded, Organic Architects, which developed a focus on designing Scotch whisky distilleries. 

He has been involved in around 70 distillery projects, in the UK, Ireland, Tibet, China and Russia.

In 2012, he designed Ardnamurchan Distillery, awarded ‘Global Sustainable Distillery of the Year 2024’, then NcN’ean Distillery, awarded ‘Global Sustainable Distillery of the Year 2025’.

During lockdown, Ahascragh Distillery was designed in Co. Galway, the first heat pump distillery which wastes no heat to the atmosphere.

Dawn Maskell is Professor of Brewing & Distilling Science at Heriot-Watt University where she is Director of the International Centre for Brewing & Distilling. In this role she teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students on topics including yeast and fermentation, product quality, sustainability and aspects of packaging. Her research interests include co-fermentation for whisky, the valorisation of co-products, process improvement and sustainability and has multiple publications on distilling topics. Dawn is a member of the Chartered Institute of Brewers and Distillers and sits on the Scottish Section Committee. She a Liveryman by Presentation of the Worshipful Company of Distillers and has been on the organising committees of the Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conference and the Young Scientists Symposium in Malting, Brewing and Distilling. 

Victoria Miller is the founder of Sip Seekers, Scotland's dedicated platform for discovering and booking distillery tours and drinks experiences. With over 14 years of experience in the drinks industry, Victoria has held senior sales and marketing roles across the Scotch whisky sector, helping grow brands both in the UK and internationally.

Passionate about the economic potential of drinks tourism, she launched Sip Seekers to connect more visitors with Scotland's world-class distilleries, breweries and drinks experiences. Today, she works closely with producers across the country to help drive visitation, increase direct-to-consumer revenue and position Scotland as a leading global destination for drinks tourism.