Brockmans Gin, the first ‘properly improper’ gin company, has appointed Henri Brunel to the role of commercial director, based in central London.
Born in Belgium and having grown up in France, Brunel holds qualifications from revered establishments in both Paris and San Francisco, having held senior roles in the wine and spirits industry on both sides of the Atlantic.
His roles have included a position at a premium boutique Cognac house in California where he established a range of premium French spirits in the US West Coast market.
Later moving back to France and settling in Bordeaux, he headed the US market for Camus Cognac, one of the top five Cognac houses. In 2008, he joined Cognac A. de Fussigny, a premium boutique Cognac house, as sales director with the mission to develop the brand distribution across the world. As such, he implemented the brand in the travel retail and duty-free channel, in the global domestic markets.
In 2013, he joined Baron Philippe de Rothschild, a leading producer of premium wines, as director of travel retail and duty free. In five years, he grew the company’s brands - Mouton Cadet and Escudo Rojo - in the duty-free channel, making Mouton Cadet the leading Bordeaux wine brand sold in this channel. In 2021, Brunel was appointed regional director for the central and eastern European markets.
Brunel’s appointment comes hot on the heels of drinks veteran Jean-Dominique Andreu’s recruitment to the role of managing director of Brockmans.
“These are exciting times for the notorious, properly improper brand, as it leads the renaissance of premium gin in the UK and further afield,” Andreu commented on the latest appointment.
“Henri’s has considerable expertise in global commercial spirit markets and his appointment further cements Brockmans’ in its position at the forefront, of the premium gin market, and will enable more people to discover and experience its distinctive flavour.”