dr John walters
MASTER DISTILLER
A former biochemist, Dr John decided to turn his talents to making spirits after deciding that other commercially available options simply were not up to scratch. He is the founder of English Spirit, and oversees the creation of all our products, both new and existing. John's ethos of 'if you want something done right then do it yourself' applies to nearly every aspect of our operation.
Dr John is one of the UK’s most experienced distillers. Turning an average of ten stills a day, and distilling the UK’s widest variety of spirits from scratch. His creations have won the most prestigious awards from the leading international spirit competitions, and he has consistently led innovation in the spirits market. He was first in the UK to distil rum, sambuca and baijiu; he has worked with some of the world’s finest ingredients; and has developed world leading techniques for extracting flavours and accelerating ageing processes. In other words, he has truly earned the title of Master Distiller.
In his spare time, John likes to continue his pursuit of personal development by learning new skills from Youtube videos. Next up on his list is learning how to crochet.
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
WHATEVER HE FANCIES ON THE DAY
meet the team
A SHIP IS ONLY AS GOOD AS IT'S CREW AND A DISTILLERY IS ONLY AS GOOD AS IT'S TEAM
It's no secret that most of our team came to work for us after trying one of our spirits and undergoing something of an epiphany. Everyone that works at English Spirit is united in their passion for making delicious spirits and sharing them with others; read on to find out more about us.
JILL LAWRENCE
SALES DIRECTOR
Jill ensures that our fine spirits & liqueurs are spread across the land: not only of our English Spirit range, but also via managing the accounts of our contract partners. Mother of James and matriarch to everyone else, Jill also supports the team in other ways, including conducting distillery tours and ensuring a steady supply of biscuits.
Jill loves gardening, taking her dog Bob for walks, and can usually be found feeding the menagerie of creatures at Great Yeldham Hall, including chickens, horses and occasionally other staff members.
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
ENGLISH SAMBUCA
JAMES LAWRENCE
GENERAL MANAGER
James heads up the South Western arm of our team: his main role is to oversee the construction of our lovely new distillery and visitors centre at Treguddick Manor in Cornwall. He also supports our Spirit Ambassador team across the country, and looks after brand & marketing activities.
James likes to spend his time exploring the West Country in the English Spirit Land Rover, and gloating to his friends in London about life in the countryside. He is definitely going to learn how to surf, as opposed to just falling off the board.
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
CUCUMBER SPIRIT
GARRY BOWMAN
DISTILLERY OPERATIONS MANAGER
Garry is our Process King who ensures the distillery runs smoothly on a day to day basis. He seems to have acquired his rucksack from Mary Poppins as he has a tool kit for every occasion, as well as a large selection of snacks contained within it.
A keen supporter of Ipswich Town FC, Garry has in the past road raced motorcycles but now enjoys a gentler pace of life relaxing on his PS4, listening to music and playing pool as part of a league team.
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
ENGLISH SPICED RUM
WENDY ELLIS
OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR
Wendy runs the office with a rod of iron and makes sure everything is where it should be - including staff members.
She’s a very busy lady and claims she doesn’t have time for hobbies but she does enjoy walking her dog and the occasional visit to the gym.
She has a love for the finer things in life: which is handy as she’s working in the home of the world's best spirits!
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
OLD SALT RUM
KURT READ
MASTER CARPENTER
Since joining our team in early 2020, Kurt has brought over 30 years of experience in construction and shopfitting to every aspect of our new distillery at Treguddick. A self confessed perfectionist, his expertise has helped us to finish our project to an exceptionally high standard.
Curious by nature, Kurt enjoys learning and turning his hand to any craft: whether it be new design software for our machinery, pizza making, or horticulture.. At weekends, he can usually be found making improvements to his home and garden, often to make room for his family’s menagerie of pets.
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
ENGLISH SPICED RUM
SAM POTTER
CREATIVE EXECUTIVE
Sam is based at Treguddick and leads our visionary direction as our Creative Executive. Not only does she create all the beautiful brand assets, from designing labels to the signage and aesthetics of the new distillery, but she also captures all our brand photography and updates the website.
Sam is a self-confessed crazy cat lady, who has two maine coons called Bumble and Bear. She moved to Cornwall from the North West and fell in love with the outdoors lifestyle, spending her time paddle boarding, wake boarding and having BBQ’s on the beach!
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
RASPBERRY GIN LIQUEUR
distillery team
DAN RICHARDSON
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Dan works closely with Dr John to oversee the day-to-day running of the distillery at Great Yeldham Hall. He ensures that everything and everyone is in the right place to make sure our orders are finished on time to our Taste First quality standard.
Dan enjoys cruising around the East Anglian countryside in his brand new electric car - a Vauxhall Mokka. He officially has the biggest feet of anyone in the distillery team, at an impressive size 14.
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
CARAMEL RUM LIQUEUR
ANDY McCALL
DISTILLERY OPERATIVE
Andy is a long standing team member at Great Yeldham, having helped produce an array of different types of spirits and liqueurs. Andy helps with the production, from chopping ingredients used to overseeing bottling and labelling.
Andy is very good at giving hugs. He is very much into gaming, as well as creative interests such as art, film and animation. He has an exceptionally large bookcase, despite not reading much.
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
APPLE BRANDY
NATALIE GUINIVAN
PROCESS LEADER
Natalie is a key member in the production team at Great Yeldham, from preparing ingredients to bottling and labelling.
Natalie loves the coast, the beach and the sea: especially Norfolk. She likes to think of herself as a part time mermaid: she's been known to drink like a fish. Otherwise Natalie swears that she's very sensible and never gets into any trouble. She's also been honoured with the accolade 'best hand labeller there is' by her team.
FAVOURITE SPIRIT
RHUBARB GIN LIQUEUR
SPLODGE
HEAD OF PEST CONTROL
An unsung hero and dedicated hard worker, Splodge plays a vital role in ensuring that our Great Yeldham site remains a pest free zone. He also occasionally shadows sales meetings to bring a fresh perspective to any scenario.
OUR SPIRIT AMBASSADOR TEAM
In addition to our staff based across our two sites, we also have a lovely and dedicated field sales team of Spirit Ambassadors, or Spirit Guides. Like the rest of the English Spirit team, they love our spirits so much that they really are passionate about sharing our collection with spirit enthusiasts everywhere; you can find them spreading English Spirit across the land at a number of events and establishments. They will only be too happy to talk to you about anything you want to know.