Ruby Capital has appointed Steven Kersley as the CEO of Eden Mill Distillery, five months after buying the scotch whisky and gin business out of administration.
The private equity group, also based in Scotland, confirmed Kersley’s recruitment today (24 April), backed by sketched-out plans for the distiller, marking “the beginning of a new chapter” for the company. Kersley (below) starts in the role this month, with details not immediately available of who he has replaced.
Starting his career in alcohol with Scottish craft brewer West Brewery in mid-2011, Kersley then spent three years with Diageo as a site operations manager across three of the group’s scotch distilleries (Linkwood, Teaninich and Benrinnes). He left the company at the start of 2015, moving to BrewDog to assume the role of head of its spirits division before becoming MD of the BrewDog Distilling Co unit at the end of 2022.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Kersley left BrewDog in November, prior to the company’s decision in January to close its distillery in Scotland.
“With its location at the gateway to the home of golf, our distillery occupies one of the most compelling sites in Scottish spirits,” he said. “St Andrews is a genuinely special place with over a million tourists passing through each year. As the 2026 season gets underway, we’re adding to the excellent local offering with our distillery visitor centre.
“We have an incredible back-catalogue of award-winning spirits, but what excites me most are the spirits that are yet to come. We’re building a whisky programme that’s uncompromising in its ambition: a wood policy of serious depth and intention, underpinned by a distillate that’s been crafted by layering flavour at every stage of production.”
Ruby Capital bought Eden Mill from its administrators late last year, having invested in the company in 2023. The group’s chair, Tony Banks, added: “We acquired Eden Mill because we believe in what it can become. Appointing Steven is the most important step we’ve taken since acquisition. He understands this industry from the ground up, he has the commercial ambition we need and he shares our absolute commitment to making whisky of the highest quality. That shared goal is the foundation everything else is built on.
“We’re giving him everything he needs to take our spirits to the world stage.”
