Steve Perez founded Global Brands in 1997, setting-up the multi-million pound, independent drinks business that now turns over £90 million annually. His businesses also include hotels and restaurants – the award-winning, four-star Casa Hotel and Peak Edge Hotel.

His roots in hospitality stretch back over 50 years, from working at his father’s pub, the Red Lion Restaurant at Stone Edge, to importing beers from mainland Europe for venues across the UK.

After experimenting by combining vodka with different flavours, Steve spotted a gap in the market for a vodka-based RTD. VK was born, with the first bottle going on sale in 1999. It is now one of the best-selling RTDs in the UK, and a core product in the Global Brands portfolio. Since then, VK has gone on to sell hundreds of millions of bottles, across the UK and internationally.

The company has expanded rapidly since 1997, with Steve going on to win the CBI Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2002, and an Honorary BA from the University of Derby in 2018.

Global Brands now offers brands for every occasion spanning premium tonics, mixers, soft drinks, beers, spirits and liqueurs, and is the biggest supplier of packaged cocktails to the UK off-trade (by volume). The company’s diverse range is sold in every channel in the on and off trade across the UK and across 63 countries internationally.

Steve’s commitment to hospitality has also grown alongside Global Brands. In 2010, he built and opened Chesterfield’s leading independent four-star, two-AA rosette Casa Hotel. The boutique hotel has a wealth of awards, and provides a home for Global Brands HQ and his in-house design studio, Clay Creative. The Global Brands group now employs over 400 people.

In 2017, Steve acquired the Peak Edge Hotel and Red Lion Restaurant, the establishment originally owned by his father that had first sparked his passion for hospitality and the drinks industry. The award-winning hotel sells locally sourced food from Steve’s farm, Walton Lodge.

Away from work, Steve is a four-time national rally champion, and an avid chef – having authored a Spanish inspired cookbook called Mi Casa.