Time for a ‘big fat holiday’: PR vet Stuart Gregor sells Four Pillars Gin to Lion
Public relations veteran Stuart Gregor has sold his independent gin brand Four Pillars to alcohol giant Lion, alongside his two other co-founders.
Stuart Gregor
On where to next, Gregor, who founded communications agency Liquid Ideas, told Mumbrella today: “I’m taking a big fat holiday.”
Gregor founded Liquid Ideas in 2000, but stepped back from its day-to-day operations to focus on Four Pillars in 2017. Matt Jones, one of the other two co-founders of the gin brand, also came from an advertising background, having spent seven years at Jack Morton Worldwide.
Lion acquired 50% of Four Pillars in 2019, but news dropped on Tuesday that it bought the other half for about $50 million.
Gregor said he’s glad Lion has become almost a “custodian” of Four Pillars and was sure that the brand is in safe hands.
“It [Four Pillars] was born in the Liquid Idea office in Alexandria probably 11 or 12 years ago with myself and Matt,” he told Mumbrella.
“From a branding and positioning point of view, we sort of took it upon ourselves really seriously. Then we obviously had one of my oldest and best mates, Cam Mackenzie, who unknown to us, happens to turn out to be the best gin distiller in the world!”
Gregor will stay within the business until September to oversee the transition and integration with Lion, but then will be off to a six-month sabbatical to “decompress”.
On whether there’s a possibility for him to return to the PR world, he said he’s “not saying yes or no” at this stage.
“I don’t want to make a dumb rash decision in the immediate aftermath of a very big life-changing couple of weeks,” he said.
“Liquid Ideas is a better business unit without me,” he teased. “If I can weasel my way in for a couple of odd meetings or anything else, I’ll see how I go. But Cleo [Liquid Ideas’ current managing director] probably want to keep me very much at arm’s length.”
Got a tip?
Darcy Song was a reporter at Mumbrella, covering media owners, adtech and social platforms. She left in October 2023.
Linkedin
Bravo. Incredible product and true Australian success story.
User ID not verified.
Have your say