Non-executive Director (ned) Appointment
Distil plc has appointed Philip Naughton as a non-executive director, effective February 2, 2026, bringing extensive financial services compliance and governance experience, including growing a previous consultancy by 124% in revenue. Mr. Naughton, who holds a 10.74% stake in Distil with 218,474,063 ordinary shares, expressed enthusiasm for leveraging his scaling expertise to unlock growth potential in Distil's brands and its 10.5% stake in Ardgowan Distillery. The company is also seeking an additional independent non-executive director to further strengthen the board.
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Distil plc (AIM: DIS), the owner of premium drinks brands RedLeg Spiced Rum, Blackwoods Gin and Vodka and Blavod Black Vodka is pleased to announce that Philip Naughton has been appointed as non-executive director, effective from 2nd February 2026.
Philip has extensive corporate experience within the financial services industry, specialising in compliance and governance, with clients ranging from banks to corporate finance firms, investment firms, wealth managers and hedge funds.
Most recently, Philip led compliance consultancy, Cosegic, for five years, growing the business 124% (revenues), and leading two successful private equity buyouts.
Philip Naughton commented:
"Distil has a strong portfolio of brands with great potential for growth, and I'm excited to bring my experience of scaling businesses to the board to help achieve its full potential. Distil also has a significant latent opportunity in Ardgowan Distillery of which Distil owns 10.5% via a convertible loan note. Given the significant interest in Scottish whisky from overseas investors I look forward to supporting Distil in unlocking the potential of this strategic asset"
Don Goulding, Executive Chairman of Distil, commented:
"I am delighted to welcome Philip to the board as we seek to further strengthen our team and take Distil into the next phase of development. An additional independent non-executive director is also being sought to bring balance to the board."
In addition to his appointment to the Board, Mr Naughton holds or has held the following directorships or partnerships in the past five years:
| Previous directorships | Current directorships |
| Coral Bidco Limited Coral Topco Limited Coral Midco Limited Coral Holdco Limited Portall Limited Nanstrad Ltd Cosegic Midco Limited Cosegic Holdco Limited Cosegic Finance Limited CS Advisers Ltd Cosegic Limited | None |
Mr Naughton has an interest in 218,474,063 ordinary shares of the Company, amounting to 10.74% of the Company's issued share capital.
Save for the information above, there are no further disclosures to be made in accordance with Rule 17, Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of the appointment.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (eu) 596/2014
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.