Sharing Beers With: John Littleton

From the flipside of a summer-break, this series is back with a special piece about a special character. Read about the VP that embodies Carlsberg culture and have an endless love for beer and the industry - and read John's thoughts on his upcoming farewell with Carlsberg.

Meet John Littleton:

John is Vice President of Sales Execution in Carlsberg Group. Growing up in the North of the UK, John’s career in the beer industry already kicked off at the age of 17! Since then, his career has brought him to work with breweries in several countries around the world.

I didn’t know John very well before this chat, so I was thrilled to meet the guy that several colleagues rave about. John leaves an impression of profound compassion for his co-workers and a sheer passion for beer and the industry. It’s no wonder that several colleagues embrace him as someone that I absolutely had to share a beer with.

Sadly, soon after my chat with John, he decided that it was time to say goodbye to Carlsberg and relocate back to UK to focus more on family and finally pursue his dream of running his own consultancy business. Nevertheless, have a read and get a glimpse of a guy that truly embodies the culture that fuels my passion for Carlsberg – and read John’s thoughts on his farewell with Carlsberg.

5 quick questions:

Every other week, I will meet with a colleague over a couple of beers and ask them 5 casual questions. With this, I hope to show the world some of the awesome personalities I meet every day in the hallways at Carlsberg.

1. What’s your beer of choice?

It’s a really tough question to answer – it’s like asking “Who’s your favorite child?”. I like different beers for different occasions. Back when I was running a pub in the UK, I used to sell a lot of Tetleys Bitter and have loved it ever since.

If I’m going out in Denmark, Tuborg Classic is just a brilliant beer that’s beautifully balanced and has a lovely maltiness. But for a special occasion, it’s Jacobsen Yakima IPA. Or Marston’s, which Carlsberg has just proposed to form a joint venture with, has a remarkable beer called Hobgoblin IPA – it’s one of the world’s best IPAs and it’s just to die for!

I’m actually the ultimate beer guy. I never drink spirits or wine, but I will have a beer or two every night. I just love it so much and I spend much of my spare time in pubs – responsibly of course!

2. When and why did you join Carlsberg?

2017 was the second time I joined Carlsberg. I ran a Tetley’s pub and worked for Carlsberg UK for most of the 1990s. Then I had a little 17 year gap away with SAB Miller before Jessica Spence, Carlsberg’s former CCO and whom I worked with before, called and asked if I would consider working for Carlsberg.

It was interesting because I was about to setup my own consultancy and there was probably only one beer company in the world that could tempt me not to do that. Having worked with Carlsberg in the past and knowing Denmark, Jessica and the people here – it was just a very simple decision!

It was therefore a very tough call to decide to leave Carlsberg. However, the COVID situation made me re-appraise my priorities in life and I made the decision that now was the right time to head back to the UK and my family. So now I get to set up the consultancy a few years late! I will however always miss my friends at Carlsberg.

Digital shouldn’t be done for the sake of doing digital – it should be an enabler for commercial excellence.

3. What’s one of the coolest project you’ve been involved in at Carlsberg?

It’s a good question, because you can imagine I’ve done a lot over my 37 years in the industry in countries like Russia, India and Hungary. But the project I’m most proud of would be the CX (Customer Experience) project that I’ve been involved in over the last couple of years.

Being an old-fashioned beer-guy, I don’t have much digital knowledge – but it has actually been a brilliant journey. I’ve been lucky to work with some geniuses and we’re now seeing a huge value-uplift from these digital customer solutions.

It’s been a great partnership between our IT colleagues and our commercial department. Digital shouldn’t be done for the sake of doing digital – it should be an enabler for commercial excellence. These digital solutions are really revolutionizing how we get new customers and how we engage and add value to existing customers – and we even reduce costs as well!

4. Can you recommend a book/podcast/movie that has influenced your life and career?

Again, it’s like choosing a favorite beer. I like Nelson Mandelas “Long Walk to Freedom”. I worked for a South-African company for a long time, so I got to know a lot about the country and its culture and heritage. That’s just an inspiring book and it changed the way I thought.

From a business perspective, there’s a really good book called “Will It Make the Boat Go Faster?” by the British boat-crew that won gold at the Sydney olympics. I’m not into business books in general, but I like sports and this book talks about teammates and setting goals. It talks about ambition and to simply just focus on things that will make the boat go faster.

5. What makes working at Carlsberg special?

Tough question because it’s a combination of things. It’s the history and the culture, which is what Carlsberg is all about. It’s the complete love of beer. This is a beer company and right since J.C. Jacobsen, this is what it has always been about – sheer love and passion for great beer. Carlsberg has clarity and purpose in its values.

And then it’s the people. Throughout my life, I’ve never worked in a company where people get along like this. Whether it’s through daily work, big projects or even the Friday bar – people just get along and watch each others backs. Carlsberg tends to attract people that are very social and team-focused – and you can only appreciate that!