Richard Gillam

The Climb

A career at Kenilworth Cocktail Lounge in London gave Richard Gillam the first bar-floor lessons that matter: timing, consistency, and the pace required to keep service clean under pressure. From there, consultancy in Singapore and across Asia widened the frame, taking the work beyond a single room and into a regional drinks context. At Big Idea Group, responsibility for beverages sharpened the operational side of the job. Sharp, stylish execution in that setting meant coordination, detail, and the discipline to deliver beverage programs with clarity and control. Liquid Playground is the venture Richard Gillam founded and directs, and it matches the shape of his background: practical, measured, and built on accumulated craft knowledge. The work there sits between rigor and invention, with enough experience behind it to keep complex beverage operations composed.

Today

Regional catering channel marketing at Rémy Cointreau extends Richard Gillam’s work across bar, operations, and beverage strategy. It follows the same pattern as the rest of his career: grounded in practice, but informed by how drinks are presented, positioned, and understood at scale.

In Their Words “The term peat actually refers to a composted vegetation made up of sphagnum moss. This moss has very strong absorbency and a high phenolic content. Phenols are the main factor that gives whisky its peaty flavor.” “Peated whisky follows the same principle, but during kiln-drying, the hot air from burning peat directly contacts the barley, like smoked fish or smoked meat, so the smoky flavor enters the dried barley.”

Recognition

The breadth of Richard Gillam’s work runs from entry-level bar service to operations management. He has also spoken with precision about whisky-making: "The term peat actually refers to a composted vegetation made up of sphagnum moss. This moss has very strong absorbency and a high phenolic content. Phenols are the main factor that gives whisky its peaty flavor."