A Four Question Interview with Dave Smith of The Oxford Artisan Distillery
Tagore Ramoutar
Craft Spirits Insights | Award-Winning Director | Co-Founder The Oxford Artisan Distillery | NED Ten Hides Distillery | NED English Whisky Guild | IoD Oxfordshire Chair | Commercial Director Spirit of the Downs|COO DeLux
A “Four Question Interview” with Dave Smith the Executive Chairman of The Oxford Artisan Distillery an award-winning grain-to-glass distillery (of which I am a Co-Founder and Board Director). This interview forms the second of a series focussed on Craft Drinks Makers.
What was your most significant success of 2020 (the one thing the company managed to do that will be the most important ongoing or the thing you/ the company managed to do that you had been putting off)? If you like, the one shining light.
Our business was very dependent on tours and sales related to those tours. That and the closure of the on premise meant in lockdown #1 we had to pivot to D2C. D2C not only became critical to survival in 2020 but is now evidently a key revenue channel from hereon.
I would add appointing a distributor as a significant signal of our future intent and also the organic certification from the Soil Association. There was also the small matter of raising a further ￡1.7m to grow Brand and increase production capacity.
Now you know what 2020 was like what is the one thing you / the company would have done differently?
We learned that we need to be better aligned with our retail and on-line wholesale customers in ‘real time’ so that we can help them better create value via our brands.
What is the biggest learning re. running a Craft Spirits Company you can share?
Identify the key growth levers, understand how you will execute them and focus on that. Know your Brand’s purpose. Avoid busy fool syndrome.
Looking forward, what is your biggest challenge / significant plan in 2021?
Building brand awareness and distribution is the biggest challenge and launching whisky the most significant plan!
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ABOUT TAGORE RAMOUTAR
Co-Founder and Manging Director from 2018 to 2020 of The Oxford Artisan Distillery, Tagore is an entrepreneurial Director with over 30 years commercial and management experience (including eleven years at board level and 15 years international experience) and a strong track record of achievement in senior roles in consumer and retail focussed industries. In 2019 he won IOD London and South Director of the Year for start-ups. He remains a Director of Still On The Hill Ltd the legal name of The Oxford Artisan Distillery) and is the distillery’s representative on the embryonic English Whisky Guild.