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Simon Hunt

CEO, Catalyst Spirits

Simon has spent nearly 30 years in the drinks industry in a variety of roles, including 13 years at William Grant & Sons, the family-owned drinks business, latterly as CEO, and previously as President of North America and global Chief Commercial Officer.

During his career, Simon has developed a strong track record of scaling premium and super-premium brands globally. Prior to joining Grant’s, he was CEO of Pernod Ricard subsidiary Malibu Kahlua International, SVP Marketing for Allied Domecq, and held a variety of global marketing roles at Diageo. Previously a Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) Board Member and Member of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD) CEO Forum, Simon is a Keeper of the Quaich and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Distillers.

Paul Rochford

CFO and Managing Director, International Markets

Paul is a seasoned drinks industry professional with 25+ years’ experience operating at the highest levels in Financial / Commercial roles within Beer, Wines and Spirits across the globe.

Having worked first at Diageo and latterly at William Grant & Sons, Paul has had first-hand experience of living and working in both high growth and “challenging” markets, and has considerable expertise in building brands and global route-to-market capabilities.

Heather Alper

Managing Director, US & Canada

Heather is a 25-year veteran of the U.S. spirits industry, and joined Catalyst from William Grant & Sons, where she was a Board-level Director, responsible for driving the global commercial change agenda to ensure profitable sales growth, brand premiumization and efficient advertising & trade investments in the US and Canada.

Prior to that, Heather held executive roles at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits/Glazer’s Distributors for over ten years and spent nearly eleven years at luxury giant Moët Hennessy USA (LVMH) in a variety of sales and marketing roles. In addition, Heather spent five years as an Advisory Board Member for the WSWA Women’s Leadership Council.

Brenda Rider

Head of Supply Chain

Brenda is a passionate supply chain professional with 20+ years in the spirits industry. She joined SKYY Spirits prior to the Gruppo Campari acquisition and spent 18+ years with Campari America at the forefront of every major acquisition, supply chain project and relocation endeavour.

Brenda’s ability to develop and maintain strong working relationships across functions has earned her a reputation as the go-to person for getting things done.

Ed Bello

Senior Vice President, Marketing

Prior to joining Catalyst Spirits, Ed was an executive at the North American division of global drinks leader Diageo, most recently the Head of Luxury.
He led the creation and development of their North American Luxury organization, including portfolio strategy; consumer segmentation; digital and e-commerce initiatives; innovation; route-to-market strategies; and its first U.S. Private Client business.
Prior to this role, he served as the U.S. and Global Brand Director for Bulleit Frontier Whiskey.

A team of handpicked passionate leaders, creating and building iconic brands.

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Who we are

We are a team of spirits business leaders , with deep knowledge of the entire industry, from supply chain, to sales, to marketing, to finance.

  • Simon Hunt
    CEO, Catalyst Spirits
  • Paul Rochford
    CFO and Managing Director, International Markets
  • Heather Alper
    Managing Director, US & Canada
  • Brenda Rider
    Head of Supply Chain
  • Ed Bello
    Senior Vice President, Marketing

The team has several hundred years of experience, having built and launched brands across multiple categories and regions around the world.

We create enduring brands that consumers love, drawing from our collective experience but building these brands in a totally new way that unites both the physical and digital landscapes. We operate globally with members of the team based in North America and Europe. We are united in our desire to win, to act at pace and to have fun doing it.

What We Do

We seek scalable opportunities in the marketplace and identify the best partners to work with.

Scalable Opportunities

Identifying Brand Partners

Rapid Brand Development

Efficient Supply Chain

Targeted Route to Consumer

Digital Acceleration

Intelligent Data Analytics

Scalable Opportunities
Identifying Brand Partners
Rapid Brand Development
Efficient Supply Chain
Targeted Route to Consumer
Digital Acceleration
Intelligent Data Analytics
Our Process

We then source world-class liquids, iconic packaging and develop extraordinary brand propositions. We work with exceptional partners in supply chain, distribution and digital marketing. We build our brands across both the physical and digital landscapes. We learn quickly through intelligent data analytics and optimise everything we do.

We are called Catalyst Spirits because we bring together the best of the best who know how to create compelling brands at pace that meet evolving consumer tastes.

Our Values

Our values unite our diverse team, differentiate us and guide everything we do.

  • Passion

    We are excited to be doing what we do and we believe in what we’re doing.

  • Pace

    We act fast, never missing an opportunity.

  • Partnership

    We believe strong partnerships shape our future and accelerate growth potential.

  • Professionalism

    We either do it properly or we don’t do it at all.

  • Proud

    We take pride and celebrate what we create together.

  • Pioneering

    We challenge industry conventions in a responsible way.
Passion
Pace
Partnership
Professionalism
Proud
Pioneering
We are excited to be doing what we do and we believe in what we’re doing.
We act fast, never missing an opportunity.
We believe strong partnerships shape our future and accelerate growth potential.
We either do it properly or we don’t do it at all.
We take pride and celebrate what we create together.
We challenge industry conventions in a responsible way.