The Great British Drinks Co has appointed former Buxton Brewery boss Dom Metcalfe as its managing director.
Metcalfe, who announced his departure from Buxton last week, will be charged with reviving the fortunes of brands including Black Sheep, Purity Brewing, Magic Rock and North Brewing.
He spent two-and-a-half years at the helm of Buxton Brewery, steering the business through a pre-pack sale to Stockport-based Happy Place Investors in May 2024.
Writing on LinkedIn, Metcalfe said he departed Buxton with “busy venues in growth both top and bottom line, new national and regional grocery listings, widened export markets, national pubco wins and a rapidly growing e-commerce business”.
Commenting on his appointment at The Great British Drinks Co, Metcalfe said: “I am incredibly honoured to start my new role as managing director of the Great British Drinks Company today.
“Black Sheep Brewery was a beer that regularly featured on the bar in my family’s pub in the late 1990s in Hampshire when I was growing up. Purity Brewing Co was one of the first partner brands I worked with when I started my career in beer at Adnams Brewery back in 2005. Similarly, I have seen Magic Rock Brewing Co and North Brewing help shape and define the craft/indie beer scene over the past couple of decades.
“I now have the privilege of helping to shape the future of these iconic heritage brands along with the rest of the team at GBDC and I could not be more excited to get to work.”
The Great British Drinks Co was formed earlier this year after the collapse of Keystone Brewing, which had itself acquired a slew distressed beer brands out of administration.
The business has outlined its intention to return to profitable growth by shrinking to a sustainable core focused on a smaller set of brands.
Speaking to The Grocer last month, Paramount director Sunny Sharma refused to give assurances about the future of all brands within the GBDC roster.
“What Keystone had tried to do was a traditional private equity buy-and-build: stack another brand on top, the numbers will keep building and somehow the profit will flow,” he said. As a result, the business acquired by Paramount in January contained a large, overlapping stable of brands with “a lot of liquid crossover”, he added.
While Paramount did not yet have a defined plan for every brand, it was focusing its initial attention and resources on Black Sheep and Purity, alongside North, Magic Rock, Brick and Brew By Numbers, Sharma said.
Fourpure, meanwhile, was “a bit of a challenge”, and could be retired, however.
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