Nick Gillett is Managing Director of Mangrove Global, one of the UK’s leading independent spirits distributors. The company represents premium challenger brands including Chairman’s Reserve, East London Liquor Company, Avallen, and Almave, and was acquired by Groupe Bernard Hayot three years ago, bringing Mangrove into the SPIRIBAM family. Nick spoke to Refine Drinks about what is actually happening in UK distribution, why wholesalers are becoming more selective, and whether the structural consolidation reshaping US distribution is coming to the UK.
The story the US is not telling
The RNDC collapse has generated more drinks industry column inches in 2026 than almost any other single story. The US distribution infrastructure is being rebuilt in real time, and the commercial consequences for brands caught in the transition have been significant – Becle’s US volumes fell 23.8% in Q1 2026 explicitly because of distributor realignment. But the US story has consumed so much attention that an equally significant set of changes in the UK distribution landscape has gone largely unreported.
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