Fever-Tree co-founder Charles Rolls to step down

Charles Rolls, the co-founder of British mixer maker Fever-Tree, will step down from his role as non-executive deputy chairman in June this year.

Fever-Tree’s Tim Warrillow and Charles Rolls

Rolls, who founded the premium soft drinks business in 2005 with CEO Tim Warrilow, will step down at the company’s next annual general meeting on 4 June.

Before launching the tonic water maker and building it up as a competitor to Schweppes, Rolls ran craft spirits brand Plymouth Gin.

Rolls acquired an equity stake in Plymouth Gin in 1997 as he become the brand’s managing director, and after growing sales 14 times over, it was sold to Absolut Vodka in 2001. It was in his time working for the spirits company that he identified space in the market for a premium mixer brand that could usurp market leaders Schweppes and Britvic, which had failed to capitalise on the move towards premium consumer goods in the same way.

In 2018, Fever-Tree overtook Schweppes as the most popular mixer brand in the UK off-trade, with a 39% share of the market, compared to the Coca-Cola-owned rival’s 31% share.

Rolls said: “Co-founding and developing the Fever-Tree brand has been the focus for an immensely satisfying 17 years of business life, from the idea, through to selling our first case, and on to the millions we now sell worldwide.

“While I am stepping down from the board, I remain a great supporter and significant shareholder in Fever-Tree and am as passionate about the business as ever. Fever-Tree deals in a world of best before dates and I am happy to be stepping down before I reach mine.”

The soft drinks producer has not yet furloughed any employees despite the strain coronavirus lockdowns worldwide have placed on its on-trade business.

Chief executive Tim Warrilow told shareholders in a trading update on 22 April that sales in bars and restaurants, which make up roughly 45% of Fever-Tree’s business, have been “severely affected”.

The group’s revenues in the year to December 2019 were £260.5 million – 10% higher than the year before – leaving the mixer maker debt-free and with a net cash flow of £128.3 million.

In fact, chief executive Warrillow told analysts he was “confident” the company can survive the current crisis, due to the fact that some premium brands have historically done well during recessions.

“Through [the 2008 financial crisis] we were a much smaller business but we had encouraging sales,” he said, adding that other categories such as “premium coffee…tend to weather well in a financial crisis and can actually grow.”