CEO Letter: Looking Back and Looking Forward to 2022
2021 was a game of two halves much like producing whisky, with the distilling and ageing aspects, or a football match (so I have been told). We started the year frustrated and delayed by the impacts of Covid in 2020, the departure of Zoe who had done so much to build the CEL team and many questions remained over the brands in a year that had a lot of stops and starts. Yet, the constants remained, the quality of our products, a talented team and the belief we could make our brands better. By the end of 2021, I had a better understanding of direction, journey requirements, and team cohesion.
By the close of 2021, led by Richard, we have seen continued and growing success in the USA with more states taking on board Scots Gold and a nationwide listing of London Square in Total Wine & More stores. For the entire sales team and me, it's been great to know that customers have responded positively to our keystone tenets of authentic, approachable, quality and craftsmanship.?
Last year saw a few new additions to the team. In logistics, we’ve welcomed Lara who with her meticulous organisation and expertise in dry good procurement to quality control and everything in-between has brought in operational efficiencies that have enabled our products to meet growing market demands and accelerated our NPD programme for the coming year (more on that down below).
On our sales team, we’ve added Will and Wilhelm, together they bring brand and export experiences that allow our spirits to make their mark in the UK, which has included listings in Masters of Malt and Wine Delivered, as well as progress in Southeast Asia and Oceania.?However, this has been underpinned by the hard work and dedication of Peter and Miranda who have juggled so much between the brand and bulk business, without complaint, often when it would have been expected! Altogether they’ve all offered different insights and approaches which have benefited the project and have led to exciting new avenues to consider some of which will come to light later this year.??
2021 also saw a return to live events and for us, it was all kicked off with Imbibe Live right here in London. An incredible show to welcome us back to live events where we saw some and plenty of new faces. All eager to share a drink or two of our spirits. Another event highlight for us was creating bespoke London Square whisky, gin and vodka cocktails for the Victoria and Albert Museum Young Patrons' Circle 5th Birthday party. Next year, we've got our fingers crossed to see our friends across the pond at Drinks America, WSWA, as well as the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Fair.
As we move forward into 2022 it cannot be that we rest on our moderate successes of 2021. We must see an increased exponential curve in sales and visibility if we are to compete in a crowded and highly competitive space. To do so we need to further seek sales within the UK to enhance credibility amongst our current and future domestic and export customers. That said, we have a lot to be excited about with Canmore Single Cask bottlings starting this month and London Square Vodka being released in Q1 of this year. 2022 will be a good year and I look forward to continuing the adventure with you all. Here is to 2022, best of luck, let's get to it!?
Charles Edge. Founder-CEO