Charles Rolls: How I reinvented the gin and tonic

After saving the historic Plymouth Gin brand, Charles Rolls saw there was a gap in the market for a top-quality tonic water. So, he invented Fever-Tree - now enjoyed by gin & tonic connoisseurs the world over.

In 1992, after three years of trying, Charles Rolls was forced to admit his business was a failure. Rolls had left a job as a management consultant to develop a hybrid rowing/bicycle fitness machine. He worked with the inventor and attracted investors, but that year "it all fell apart when the shareholders began arguing with each other". Ruing the "opportunity cost" of the wasted years, Rolls, now 61, returned to consulting. "I had just married and needed to earn some more money."

Yet by 1996, Rolls was desperate to be out on his own again. "I felt if I didn't do it soon I never would." The chance came when he heard about Plymouth Gin, a struggling gin-maker. Investors in the company had bought it from a large brewer, but were having problems selling the product. "It sounded like an opportunity." Rolls met the investors and eventually persuaded them to take him on as managing director. He also demanded a "useful chunk" of equity.

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.