Meet the Team

Patrick Schmitt MW
Editor-in-Chief

Patrick has been shortlisted two years running for editor of the year in the business and professional magazine category for the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME).

Sarah Neish
Managing Editor

Sarah writes, commissions and edits feature content for the drinks business, covers news for thedrinksbusiness.com and edits the drinks business Asia.

James Evison
Digital Editor

James Evison is digital commercial editor at the drinks business, focussing on the magazine’s online output, social media presence and daily newsletter.

Jessica Mason
Beer and Features Editor

Jessica Mason is the beer editor at the drinks business responsible for writing news and features across all drinks categories for the flagship magazine and website, curating the US and Asia newsletters as well as compiling stories for Drinks Business Asia.

Arabella Mileham
Retail Editor

Arabella Mileham is retail editor at the drinks business and covers everything related to the selling of booze across the UK’s vast off-trade. She also heads up db‘s fine wine coverage and weekly newsletter.

Eloise Feilden
Asia Editor

Eloise Feilden joined the drinks business as a Staff Writer after completing an MA in Magazine Journalism at City, University of London. She now oversees both print and online editorial and commercial content for the drinks business Asia, as well as coverage of the international fine wine, beer, and spirits trade.

Louis Thomas
Senior Staff Writer

Louis joined the drinks business in 2022. In addition to writing news for the db website, he is also in charge of the weekly Wine List Confidential newsletter. He is currently studying for his WSET Diploma.

Cecilia Wong
dbAsia writer

Cecilia Wong writes about Asia for db and is a wine and spirits and the winner of Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Competition 2019- the Communicator of the Year. Her passion in whisky and wine leads her to become a whisky columnist, wine specialist and blogger and TV host. She likes to travel to whisky distilleries or wineries and discover more interesting whiskies and wines from around the world.

Colin Hay
Bordeaux Correspondent

Colin Hay is db’s Bordeaux correspondent and a Professor of Political Science at Sciences Po in Paris, where he works on the political economy of Europe, la place de Bordeaux and wine markets more generally.

Giles Fallowfield
Champagne Correspondent

Giles Fallowfield is an acknowledged expert on the wines of Champagne, the region itself and sparkling wines in general, having gleaned his knowledge from regular visits to the region for over 30 years. He also writes about restaurants, food, travel and other wine related subjects for many different consumer and specialist trade publications.

Richard Woodard
Fine Wine Editor

Fine wine editor Richard Woodard was an award-winning local newspaper journalist before being lured into the world of drinks writing via a weekly Saturday wine column (unpaid).

Lucy Shaw
Contributor

Lucy Shaw is a freelance contributor to the drinks business. Her special interest areas include Spain, Champagne, South America and the London on-trade.

Lauren Eads
Contributor

While exposing council corruption, championing community heroes and chasing down criminals proved to be brilliant training, local news was not as captivating as the world of wine.

Roger Morris
US Correspondent

Since the early 1980s, Morris has been writing about wine and doing so full-time since the turn of the century, filling his notebooks with dispatches from about 150 reporting trips to wine regions around the world.

Amanda Barnes
South American Contributor