Stephen Davies - Managing Director
Stephen commenced employment at Penderyn
Distillery in January 2005, having previously been a Regional Director with Brambles Industrial Services in the UK and in Netherlands.
He is from Port Talbot in South Wales and has an honours degree in Geology/Geography and a Master in Business Administration from the University of Keele in Staffordshire. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply.
As Managing Director, Stephen oversees the running of the business in all its aspects and is passionate about Penderyn Distillery which he says is a unique and special Welsh business. "We have a wonderful mix of people who help to make our Penderyn brands such a success - from our shareholders, directors, employees, and associates through to our trade and retail customers - A global business operating from a small Welsh village - fantastic! The reaction that we get to Penderyn at home and abroad is just brilliant. People are finding out that the first single malt whisky from Wales in over 100 years is a truly world class product."
Whilst the job is extremely varied, Stephen is in no doubt about his favourite distillery chore. "Assisting Gillian Howell and Dr Jim Swan as they are nosing and tasting the maturing spirit has got to be the best job in the distillery – not that they need my help of course! I also enjoy traveling and meeting our customers and friends at whisky events, sports events, music and theatre or just about anywhere. It is especially nice to taste Penderyn with people who are discovering our single malt for the first time" he says.
James Barrett - Finance Director
A Chartered Accountant with extensive experience in the drinks industry, James joined Welsh Whisky as Finance Director in 2002. Having been Finance Director of South Wales brewers S A Brain & Co and Crown Buckley, he now enjoys the very different challenges of being part of a small team running a company in the early stages of its development. He is responsible for all financial and company secretarial elements of the business.
"Financing any start-up business can be difficult, but the unique issues in setting up a whisky distillery (including the need to lay down the whisky for a number of years before it can be sold) are particularly challenging. We are only here today because of the fantastic level of ongoing support from the company’s shareholders and backers."
James has an honours degree in Engineering Science from Oxford University, and enjoys being involved in all aspects of the business.
Jim Swan - Master Blender & Consultant Distiller
Dr Jim Swan has been involved with the Welsh Whisky Company since it began distilling and is their Master Blender charged with creating the unique style of Penderyn single malt. He is a consultant to the World-wide drinks industry and assists the quality aims of Blue Chip brewers, winemakers, distillers and cooperages as well as several small producers in five continents.
After graduating from the Heriot-Watt University in Chemistry he later gained a PhD in Chemistry and Biological Sciences from the same University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and was awarded Fellowship of the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and more recently a special award from The Malt Advocate magazine for services to the barrel industry. His particular areas of expertise include maturation in oak casks, product quality, distillation and blending. He has undertaken training courses on sensory evaluation of drinks and has managed UK Government and EU research programmes worth over £3M. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and has taken part in TV and radio broadcasts into spirits quality. He is a panel chairman judge at the International Wine and Spirits Competition."
John Davies - Operations Manager
John started working at the distillery in February 2000 as a carpenter and labourer as part of a team constructing the distillery. Once the building was up and running John was involved in the installation of the still and the early trials and was present as the first spirit in over 100 years was produced.
John was involved in the early days with bottling of the Brecon Gin, Brecon Vodka and Merlyn Cream Liqueur and started taking a keen interest in how the still was run and the whole whisky making process -especially the tasting side! This lead to him and his colleague, Steve Bird, taking a cooperage course in Speyside Cooperage learning how to handle and repair the barrels correctly, a key skill within the distillery.
John now as a key member of the production team and helps run the daily distillation process. He is involved with the management of the casks and cask transferring/sampling through to the bottling and production for all products. John was a key player in hand bottling the first ever batch of Penderyn back in March 2004. Other activities that John is involved in include bottling line set up, delivery, despatch and stock counting.
Nigel Short - Chairman
Nigel has been involved with Penderyn since well before our official launch in 2004, firstly as a Director and Shareholder, and more recently as Executive Chairman.
Nigel was born and bred in the Cynon Valley only a few miles from the distillery. He spent 25 years working in the steel industry world-wide and by the time he left, employed 1,500 people in six different countries, undertaking sophisticated on-site logistics.
Nigel has been involved with numerous businesses over the years and whilst acknowledging that he has been fortunate enough to be involved with businesses which generate passion and pride, says he has never seen anything to match the enthusiasm generated by Penderyn and all its key stake-holders. Employees, shareholders, customers and suppliers all seem to generate a high degree of emotional attachment to the business. This is understandable given the remarkable process involved and the painstaking care with which Penderyn is produced.
Nigel also runs a 400 acre organic lamb and beef farm in Carmarthenshire where he lives with his wife Louise and three children, Eloise, Nathan and Morgan. He has coached junior rugby for four years and is a qualified rugby referee.
He sees the primary mission of the company not as producing the only Welsh whisky. Although enormously proud of the whisky’s Welsh heritage, Nigel first and foremost has a vision to produce the finest whisky on earth. He sees a major advantage of the business as being privately held and not under short-term pressure to grow revenue and profits before establishing a solid foundation.
Sian Whitelock - Commercial Director
Sian previously worked for Brambles Industrial Services as Commercial Projects Manager, her previous background to that role was in Quality Management Systems and Customer Relationship Management. After 17 years service with the company, Sian decided to take up a new challenge and joined the Welsh Whisky Company in June 2005. She welcomes the change as "a wonderful opportunity to be part a winning team who are charged with building recognition of Penderyn as a world class single malt!"
In addition to assisting and overseeing the day to day running of the business, Sian's role covers many 'behind the scenes' activities such New Product Development, Marketing and Advertising, Export regulation compliance, Stock Control and Purchasing.
Sian particularly enjoys the Product Development aspect of her role and comments that "the introduction of new products into the Penderyn portfolio is essential for our long term success, customers today expect more choice and it is essential that we offer Penderyn as part of a carefully selected, exclusive range of premium products."
"I also really enjoy the social aspect of attending events, tasting's and exhibitions which are essential for maintaining visibility and promoting relationships with the public, corporate customers, and for re-enforcing Brand awareness via sponsorship agreements with key organisations like The Welsh Rugby Union, The Wales Millennium Stadium, Brecon Jazz and the Princes Trust organisation".
Gillian Macdonald - Distiller
Gillian started work in Penderyn as the Distiller in January 2004 after taking a year out, when she graduated from university, to travel round the world. Having always had a keen interest in alcohol from her student days, when she saw the job advertised she applied instantly. After a successful interview which involved trying the ‘hard stuff’, she joined the company and became the only Distiller in Wales.
Originally from Fishguard in West Wales Gillian is a graduate of Cardiff University and has a BSc in Chemistry with Industrial Experience. She now plans to continue her studies as she gains experience in the industry and do her masters in brewing and distilling to become a Master Distiller.
As Distiller, and the youngest member of the Management Team at the distillery, Gillian’s role has a large variety of responsibilities including management of the distillation process, the casking, through to the sampling and monitoring and management of the maturing stock. This monitoring is done under the expert guidance of Dr Jim Swan. "This is the most interesting part of my job and probably the hardest as it is a mixture of science and art choosing which barrels are to go in to which bottling batches. Every cask is completely individual so it is never the same". Other activities include managing the production schedule and staff, C & R compliance, organising despatch, industry shows, deliveries, stock checks and anything else that may crop up.
Gillian enjoys her job immensely as it is such a varied one; it also never fails to raise an eyebrow when she meets new people. "People are instantly interested in what my job involves and nearly always ask me if I have any samples on me" says Gillian.