Distilling Wisdom on China

03.05.12

And so to the Worshipful Company of Distillers "City Debate" which took place in the Great Hall located at 60 Victoria Embankment, the premises of J P Morgan. The topic was "China is the Heart of Asia" and the opening speaker was our very own Martin Riley who is a Freeman of the Marketors and CMO of Pernod Ricard. He set the scene perfectly with an array of statistics which painted a very clear picture of the opportunities and threats for those seeking to expand in China. That the drinks industry is one of the few where the investment in marketing can reflect in the movement of the share price made the four speakers all the more interesting. However, there were two statistic that came out which gave some of us cause for concern. The first was that overall the UK do more trade with Ireland than the whole of Brazil, Russia, India and China, and that our European partners have a greater share of, and greater impact in, China than we do. The unasked question was how to get UK business to approach the market in the way those addressing us do. 

On this occasion the Mistress accompanied me and, as usual, we found the hospitality and the fellowship delightful. And as you might expect, the after event drinks were something special. 

John Flynn
Master Marketor