DRINKLY BOLSTERS MANAGEMENT TEAM TO SUPPORT AMBITIOUS GROWTH PLANS
As it prepares to expand its services into Glasgow, online drinks delivery business Drinkly has bolstered its management team with the recruitment of a marketing manager and operations manager.
Ailidh Forlan, Marketing Manager
A recognised figure in Edinburgh’s food and drink scene, Ailidh is a restaurant reviewer and food columnist for The List and Opulence Magazine, with her own blog Plate Expectations boasting over 12,000 followers.
Ailidh began her career in the sales and marketing team at Montpeliers in 2016, managing all content marketing for the group’s seven units. She then took on the role of Business Manager for East Lothian Food & Drink, which involved close collaboration with the 41 member companies in the BID to support their individual and collective objectives in promoting East Lothian as a food and drink destination. As marketing manager for Drinkly, Ailidh will be responsible for developing and implementing the SME’s marketing strategy and driving core marketing activities.
Paul Finlayson, Operations Manager
Paul joined Drinkly from commercial shop-fitting contractor SES Concept Group, where he was responsible for project managing the firm’s contracts. He co-founded Yum.ee, an online pet treat subscription box, in January 2016, and managed the global supply chain of Blu/SKYCIG’s UK and Europe fulfilment centre – the company is now owned by Imperial Tobacco’s ec-g division Fontem Ventures. Paul will oversee the smooth running of Drinkly’s existing operations, increasing the driver fleet and managing launch operations.
Commenting on the appointments, founder of the Edinburgh-based start-up John Robertson said: “Drinkly is an entrepreneurial technology business passionate about drinks with big ambitions and so the parameters of a typical job description don’t really apply. Talent goes beyond skill and experience. It’s as much about initiative, resourcefulness and work ethic and both Ailidh and Paul demonstrate all these traits. They’re real assets to the Drinkly team.”
Founded in November 2016, Drinkly is a technology platform that allows customers to shop over 650 products across beers, wines and spirits from local off-licence partners and have them delivered to homes, offices or friends in one hour. In two years the business has created partnerships with Heineken and other independent craft brands and accrued over 3,000 regular customers in Edinburgh. Turnover in the first year stood at £55,000, with Y2 turnover expected to hit £1M through expansion into other cities. £300,000 in seed investment came in two rounds from Seed Haus Scotland’s most selective technology incubator backed by James Watt (BrewDog), Rob Dobson (Prolific Technology Entrepreneur), Judy Wilson, Robin Knox (iPOS/iZettle), Paul Walton (iPOS/iZettle), Sir Tom Hunter, Paul Davidson (West Coast Capital), Chris Van Der Kuyl (4J Studios), Paddy Burns (4J Studios) and Alistair Forbes (Mercia Technologies).
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About Drinkly
The next best thing to drinking in a bar and with an even greater choice, Drinkly is an on-demand drinks delivery service which allows you to shop from over 650 products across spirits, beers, wines, soft drinks and snacks and have them delivered to your door, chilled, in one hour. The Edinburgh-based start-up launched in November 2016 and acts as the online shop front and fulfilment service (think Amazon) for specialist local retailers, allowing them to sell to customers in one hour using a network of trained drivers. The minimum spend is £20 and orders over £40 benefit from free delivery. Drinkly is open between 10am and 11pm Monday to Saturday and 12-11pm on Sunday (last orders at 10pm) although pre-orders can be placed online for the following day.