Four Pillars gin has revealed it has appointed a new Regional Trade Director, with Tom Appleton to join the distiller from Diageo in the New Year.
Appleton joins Four Pillars after 11 years at Diageo where he worked his way up through a number of field sales roles before being appointed as the head of Australian on-trade two years ago. He had previously worked as Diageo’s Head of Reserve Brands and set up the company’s luxury sales business in Australia.
Speaking about Appleton’s appointment, Four Pillars’ Co-Founder and Trade Director, Stu Gregor said: “Tom knows a lot about top shelf booze and a lot about the Australian on-trade and its key players. He will be a welcome addition to our team in Australia and will work closely with our mates at Vanguard on further entrenching our gins at the very best bars and restaurants across the country.
“In addition to leading our On Premise strategy in the domestic market, Tom will also take leadership for managing the New Zealand market, all our growing markets in Asia as well as the USA and Canada. This will see Tom making his first visits to each of these regions in the first half of 2019 and we are sure he will receive a warm welcome from our trading partners and be an excellent addition to our team.”
Gregor added that Appleton’s appointment will help relieve some of the pressure on Scott English who has been the single global sales resource for Four Pillars over the last year, managing sales across Australia and the other 25 markets around the world. English will continue as the sales lead for Four Pillars in the Australian off-premise as well as being the lead in the UK, European and Middle-East markets and global travel retail.
Looking at the year ahead, Gregor said: “2019 promises to be pretty special for Four Pillars and we expect to have several more personnel additions throughout the year as we set our sights on becoming one of the world’s best-loved and most recognized craft gin distilleries.”
