Gladstone and Gladstn, it’s all in the name
Apart from the obvious similarity in names, I see many parallels in our two brands. Our wares are equally comfortable in the landscapes of travel, business and leisure, and our products are crafted with passion, imagination and care. Connoisseurs and bon viveurs are definitely top of mind regarding our customers. As are the qualities of luxury and heritage value and an agility to adapt smoothly to the zeitgeist.

Speaking of Gladstn London, a brand I really admire, if you asked me to make just one choice of kit, that would be really difficult
But, if I have to select just ONE bag, it’s got to be the Late Nights & Lie Ins travel bag, in Espresso.  It’s a classic.

It was at Oddbins that I really got interested in wine and spirits
So, I travelled a lot in France with my dad and learned about wine. I decided after university I would go to UC Davis, the wine school of the University of California, and I found it really, really interesting, and as it happened, life affirming.
 
When I eventually moved back to London, I went to work for William Grant & Sons and we created iconic brands Hendrick's Gin and Sailor Jerry Rum. They were really the brainchild of a guy called Mark Teasdale. He was US-based and I was in the UK but we made a great transatlantic team. (And he’s now my business partner!) 

 

Million-bottle Malfy
Next I moved to the US and went to work for Jose Cuervo, the Tequila company. We created a lot of good brands there, like Kraken Rum, but I got itchy feet.  So I started my own company called Biggar & Leith and created a brand called Malfy Gin. Amazingly, things took off and Malfy became a huge million-bottle brand in a very short space of time.
 
The Italian job
Malfy was special because it was quintessentially Italian. Legend has it that gin maybe came from Italy originally with monks adding juniper to alcohol, way, way back, in beautiful Amalfi. Our Malfy was an escapist experience, the concept of the packaging was really ‘sunshine in a bottle’, vibrant in blue and yellow hues, and totally embraced the good life, laid-back culture. It went stratospheric. We went global with it. We got it into about 90 different countries including Japan, Russia and China, It worked all over the world. 

Then mega-brand Pernod Ricard snapped it up 
And that was our ultimate launchpad. Since the Pernod Ricard acquisition, we’ve marketed a selection of concept labels under the Biggar & Leith brand. One very important adventure is Gladstone Axe Scotch whisky.
 
Gladstone Axe is a fun, blended malt brand inspired, of course, by William Gladstone
Gladstone Axe is a premium whisky with evocative packaging. My grandfather was very proud of his Scottish roots and I think this connection amplified sales around the world. He was a great woodsman, and he had a great collection of axes. It was his hobby to go into the woods to help him unwind. We formulated all these conceptual factors around him, not only a great tasting malt, but a beautiful, collectible bottle to communicate the narrative.

I love cocktails too, they have a kind of nostalgic, decadent vibe
We’ve devised a portfolio of nine spectacular cocktails embodying Gladstone Axe. They range from the classic Highball (just add soda & ice!) to the Zeal, which blends Stambecco Amaro and Hotel Starlino Vermouth. 

We’ve a fabulous vermouth called Hotel Starlino
We love this sophisticated, glamorous brand name. We created Starlino with Torino Distillati, an old distillery and bottler, who made Malfy. We’ve become firm friends with the Vergnano Family who owns it as, like Gladstn London, we like to work with family-owned businesses in Italy. The family were making lots of products, but they weren’t particularly well marketed or presented. So we joined forces and contributed our imagination and merchandising expertise, and voilà we polished the formula. I like to drink Starlinos with soda on ice. Tonic is delicious too if it’s good quality one!

I love to think of new categories to explore
We’ve actually just launched a fabulous Hot Sauce brand called FIRELLI.  It’s made in Parma from Calabrian Chilli peppers, red peppers, balsamic vinegar and porcini mushrooms.  It’s fabulous on eggs, salads, pizza and pretty much anything that needs a little kick. We love inventing twists on classics and trying to be a little disruptive in old industries.  There’s a ton out there that are ripe for shaking up!

I really love the UK and London and visit every couple of months
London has got nicer and nicer every year as far as I can see.  I don’t miss places, I just look forward to visiting them again, and more importantly finding new places to visit.

I love walking in New York and London and when I visit I always try to find a really interesting exhibition, an odd restaurant, an interesting food hall or food market – and of course catch up with old friends. I get a real buzz going to a bar and seeing my labels on show. It’s so exciting and fun to work on an idea, make the product happen and then actually see it on sale – and hear someone at a bar actually order your product!

I have a few treasured ‘heirlooms’ of my great–great grandfather
The business cards (pictured above) just say ‘Mr. Gladstone’ – that’s pretty cool – and they have his address in the bottom right hand corner.  He was in and out of Downing Street – but being a canny Scot, he didn’t get more business cards, he just crossed out the address and changed it to the new one!  He lived between Carlton House Terrace (there is a Blue Plaque there) and Downing Street.  I believe that before the era of Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, he was the last Prime Minister to have a child born in No. 10. I also bought, at auction, a seal that he used for sealing wax on envelopes (below).

It was so interesting growing up in the Gladstone family house. My great-great-grandfather called his study ‘The Temple of Peace’ where family members would have their height marked on the wooden panels of the bookcases. There are some really tall relatives – up to 6’8”!  He used to hold huge rallies at the house, and there are some amazing photographs of him talking to large crowds. He would speak, and then two men with enormous megaphones would shout out what he was saying so the crowd could hear. 
 
At the time, he was one of the most famous men in the world and a great humanitarian. Addressing the he Irish question, bringing attention to the world of the horrific abuses of political prisoners in Italy and the Armenian genocide (he is a hero in that country as well as Bulgaria). He was a liberal in the true sense, a free thinker, and implemented some amazingly forward thinking tax reforms and ways of doing business.

Kicking back, I get more of a buzz from Edinburgh than anywhere else in the world
It’s a very special city for me and has some amazing places to eat and drink. I also love Torino, which is stunningly beautiful, effortlessly stylish and of course has some of the best food and wine in the world.
 
Culture wise, I love the National Portrait Gallery in both London and Edinburgh.   We live near New York and there are two places that we visit over and over – one is the Noguchi Gallery in Long Island City, which is always inspiring – and the second is the Met – again, there is always something fascinating to see, and our children love seeing the Armour collection.

When all is said and done, though, with all this travel, the thing I most I look forward to is seeing my family when I get home. It’s also great to re-engage with my collection of hundreds of sample bottles for new products that we are working on. When our friends come around for drinks they are always amazed by these!