Focus Dinner with Nigel Mills, The Lakes Distillery

26 April 2018, 18:30 - 22:00

Jesmond Dene House, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2EY

A leading light in North East business, Nigel Mills began his entrepreneurial journey in 1986 by raising bank finance to buy eight Tyneside based shops.

Growing Mills Newsagents into a chain of 85 convenience stores and supermarkets across the UK, he went on to build a multi-award-winning group that employed more than 2,000 people and turned over £100m.

As a founder member of the Forum, Nigel joined our board in 2009 and, following the sale of Mills Group to Tesco, stepped-up to become chairman in 2012.

Currently he is masterminding the creation of The Lakes Distillery, a world-class whisky distillery, bar and bistro, visitor centre and internet based membership club.

As co-founder and chairman, Nigel is building an outstanding business which has already become the largest Distillery in England. Winning ‘Best Visitor Facilities at a Whisky Distillery’ in 2016, 17 and 18, it employs over 75 staff and has seen more than 300,000 people visit during the last three years.

As an investor and mentor for numerous early stage companies, a former Business Executive of the Year for North Tyneside, one of the inaugural ‘Maserati 100’ and a regular business columnist in the Journal newspaper, Nigel is a true champion of entrepreneurship.

EXPLORE how to raise finance and build brands that fuel growth.

LEARN from many years of leadership experience and continuous learning.

GAIN an insight into how you scale a global business in a hugely competitive market.



The Small Print - This event is exclusively for entrepreneurial members of the Entrepreneurs' Forum and costs £75 +VAT, payable in advance. Unfortunately we are not able to reimburse this cost if your place is cancelled within 72 hours of the dinner.

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