Andy Bagnall is the Director General of the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA), representing UK producers of soft drinks, from carbonated beverages and juices to bottled waters. In this role, he leads the industry’s engagement with governments across the UK to ensure policy proposals are practical and evidence-based.

Andy’s career spans politics, public affairs, and trade associations. He worked as a special adviser in the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Defence and later held senior roles at the CBI and KPMG before joining the Rail Delivery Group, where he became Director General and later Chief Executive of Rail Partners.

At the BSDA, Andy leads a team working on environmental initiatives such as the UK-wide deposit return scheme and extended producer responsibility, as well as government public health priorities, helping to highlight the sector’s progress on sugar reduction and its wide range of products, catering to all tastes and preferences.

Caroline is Head of BWS & Drinks at M&S, making decisions not just on their award-winning range but also on store design, customer communications and operational process.

Caroline has over two decades of experience in the drinks industry – spanning Europe and America and also Global roles, across wine and spirits. Caroline has extensive supplier side experience from before M&S, from companies such as Accolade Wines, Treasury Wine Estates & Diageo.

With a marketing and commercial background, innovation has always been a passion and priority for her.

Charlie Gilkes is the co-founder of Inception Group, a fast growing collection of 16 highly innovative and experiential London bars, pubs and clubs under brands such as Mr Fogg's, Cahoots and Bunga 90. Charlie started the business with London's first speakeasy bar, Barts and now employs over 600 people with annual sales in excess of £35m with no external investment.

Dave Knowles is Founder and Managing Director of Alpine Online, a specialist consumer goods data analytics and insights consultancy. Dave helps drinks manufacturers, retailers and investors turn complex market and shopper data into practical commercial strategies that drive growth.

With over 20 years' experience across retail, supplier and consultancy environments, he works with businesses ranging from challenger brands to major FMCG companies, translating category, consumer and pricing data into clear actions and opportunities.

Dave is passionate about making data more accessible and actionable, combining industry datasets, emerging AI technologies and commercial insight to help businesses make better decisions.

At Drink Tank's Beer Breakout Session, Dave will share the latest data-led perspectives on the UK beer market, exploring where growth is emerging, how consumer behaviour is evolving, what innovations are gaining traction, and what the future may hold for brewers, suppliers and retailers navigating an increasingly competitive category.

Founder and CEO at JUBEL, the brand that pioneered the fast-growing and strongly emerging Fruit Lager category. From sleeping on the warehouse floor 8yrs ago, to a team of 60 and 18m litres of volume annually now.

Jourdan is the Buyer for Beer & Cider at Waitrose & Partners, where he leads the sourcing, range development, and category strategy for one of the UK's leading premium supermarket beer and cider portfolios.

He is a CertifiedCicerone Beer Server, Beer Judge and SIBA Business Award recipient for his work supporting the Indie Beer campaign, where he has championed innovative breweries, sustainability initiatives, and independent producers, helping to introduce distinctive beers and ciders that balance exceptional quality with strong consumer appeal.

Lucy Busk is the Co-founder of Nice, the modern wine company built to liberate drinkers from traditional wine headaches. Alongside co-founder Jeremy May, Lucy launched Nice in 2019 after realising how poorly 187ml PET bottles fit real life wine moments like traveling, festivals, or when you just want one. By introducing high-quality wine in beautifully designed cans, Nice prioritizes breathing new life into wine, putting the consume first, occasion, simplicity, and portion control over rigid industry rules. Nice have since introduced boxes, kegs and glass bottles.

Nice has become one of the UK’s fastest-growing multi format wine brands, solving customer pain points around wine confusion, high ABVs, waste, and packaging flexibility. Today, Nice is stocked in over 8,000 distribution points across top retailers, travel hubs, and venues, including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Co-op, Ocado, WHSmith, and Virgin Atlantic, where it serves as the exclusive Economy and Premium wine partner reaching millions of consumers annually.

Naomi Brandon-Bravo leads on supply chain and sustainability policy at the British Retail Consortium (BRC), representing the UK's retail industry on some of the most significant environmental and operational challenges facing businesses today. Naomi works closely with retailers, government departments, regulators and industry partners to develop practical policy solutions that support sustainability ambitions while recognising the realities of complex supply chains and retail operations.

Her work spans a wide range of sustainability issues, including packaging and recycling policy, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Deposit Return Schemes (DRS), Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT), resource efficiency and the transition to a more circular economy. She has significant experience helping retailers prepare for major regulatory change and advocating for efficient, evidence-based approaches that deliver environmental outcomes while minimising unnecessary cost and complexity.

She is particularly passionate about collaboration across the value chain and the role retailers can play in driving innovation, reducing environmental impact and building more resilient, sustainable supply chains.

Rachel Weller leads NIQ’s commercial strategy for Beer, Wine, Spirits and Soft Drinks in the UK, partnering with brands to unlock growth through data‑driven insight and a deep understanding of consumer behaviour across On Trade, Off Trade and online. With 17 years of Beverage Alcohol expertise, Rachel works closely with drinks manufacturers to translate market trends into clear commercial opportunities and stronger brand performance.

Rob Wallis is co-founder of MOTH, the UK’s #1 cocktail brand in grocery. After studying music at the University of York, he co-founded and built MOTH into a category-defining brand focused on making bar-quality cocktails as easy as a can of beer. Today sold in over 5,200 stores across the UK and a MOTH sold in every 5 seconds, Rob is leading the brands international expansion across the US with key retailers such as Whole Foods and Target. He is passionate about building an exceptional company and culture, with an uncompromising focus on quality, excellence, and people.

Tim Bird has been in the hospitality industry all his working life, working his way up through the ranks to being MD at Greenall’s, Morrells of Oxford, Eldridge Pope and Brunning and Price before setting up Cheshire Cat Pubs and Bars Ltd with wife and business partner Mary McLaughlin 16 years ago.

Together they have built an award-winning Boutique Country and Village Pub business in Cheshire and Staffordshire. Tim has led the way in drinks development winning recognition recently at the Drinks Buyers Awards for the development of their pubs ‘No and Low’ Drinks category. Tim shares his other passion on Instagram every week as ‘Wineman’ talking through wines that he enjoys matching with food, show casing wines he really enjoys.

Tim says, “I am very proud of what we have achieved in our pubs drinks wise, we have shone a light on what is possible, and our business continues to succeed on the back of the effort we are putting in, with another record year on the horizon again this year”.