Page 138 - Case Lab Summary

Chase Distillery Notes

Chase Distillery: Applied lessons from an earlier Equity

Finance experience.

(Case B) EFMD

The genesis of this case study was the desire to follow the serial
entrepreneur William Chase as he sold his shares in Tyrrells Crisps to
venture capitalists, a less than fulfilling experience and one that

would shape his future ventures.

His family background was one of potato growing. A business that is

at the heart of both his subsequent ventures into first, the snack
business with Tyrrells Chips and subsequently, the distilling business

with Chase Distillery.

“I wouldn’t have gone into spirits if I hadn’t made the crisps first,”

said Chase. “With the vodka, I’ve been able to use all the things I’ve
learned from Tyrrell's, including marketing and PR.”

Chase had begun his association with vodka production whilst at
Tyrrells and decided that this was a business which satisfied his
business and ethological constraints. Moreover, applying the lessons

he had learned from setting-up and running Tyrrells Chips allowed
him to build a strong, dynamic and self-funded commercial
enterprise based upon single estate products with unique selling

points, ones that cannot be readily replicated. Moreover, he has
learned to delegate along with greater family involvement.