Four Pillars eyes European growth with appointment

Australian distillery Four Pillars has appointed Joe Worthington as trade relations manager, UK and Europe, as it seeks to expand its volume sales within the markets.

Four Pillars has appointed Joe Worthington as trade relations manager, UK and Europe

Formerly general manager of Portobello Road Distillery in Notting Hill, Worthington will work across all facets of the UK business to help the distillery fulfil its vision of selling around 2000, 6-packs of gin across Europe in 2017.

He will be tasked with training retail and bar staff, working with the UK distributor on commercial arrangements, and helping to develop markets inside mainland Europe.

Worthington is “well known” to the Four Pillars team, says Stuart Gregor, co-founder and director of Four Pillars, from his five years in Australia as group bars manager for the Applejack Hospitality Group, which owns Sydney bars Della Hyde, So-Cal, Bondi Hardware and The Butler.

“While at Applejack, Joe was a great supporter of Four Pillars and we became good mates – in fact he helped us run one of our first ever cocktail competitions,” Gregor explained.

“When Joe decided to return to the UK in early 2016 we stayed in touch and drank together regularly on our trips to London. When we decided to appoint our first trade relations manager in the UK we hoped he might be interested and here we are with him in place.”

Distributed in the UK by Love Drinks since 2016, the spirits stable comprises Rare Dry, Navy Strength, Spiced Negroni and Bloody Shiraz Gin variants.

Four Pillars is also available in Denmark, Sweden and Holland, with limited availability in several other nations.