Pete Lumber opens Eat, Drink, Distill in Newbury's Parkway

A Newbury businessman has come a long way from his first foray into an industry that he now excels at.

Just 14 years ago Pete Lumber bought his first pub – and he didn’t even know how to pull a pint.

But what he does know, is how to work hard and how to adapt. And those philosophies are certainly paying off as he sees his gins sold in Harrods and his latest bar – Eat, Drink, Distill – thrive in Newbury’s Parkway Shopping.

Born and bred in Bristol, Pete is a twin and one of four children. He was brought up on a council estate by his mum and says “things were grounded”.

“We didn’t have much but what we did have was love and that’s the same for a lot of people,” he says. “We weren’t in a society where there was a lot of waste.”

After school he became a butcher before doing "numerous jobs" but says "nothing really fitted well until later in life".

“After that I became a floor layer," he says. "I loved the job because I have a creative mind but then I had a bad accident and it stopped me doing that.”

But he can’t be stopped for long and says despite his accident and having to go through four major operations due to illness, he “got myself up and brushed myself down”.

His leap into the hospitality industry came after a night out with some friends ended up with him buying a pub in Bristol.

“Nothing phases me,” he adds. “I bought a pub but couldn’t pull a pint.

“It was something I really enjoyed though, because I was engaging with a lot of people. You become part of a lot of lonely people’s lives. It was very rewarding.

“It was a rough council estate pub that I turned into a really nice family pub.

“It was a challenge but I was determined to turn it around. I have got some really fond memories there and it isn’t monetary; I like to get self-worth out of what I do.”

Three years into the lease at The Whitchurch and a chat with his business development manager saw Pete take on The Newbury as it “ticked all the boxes” for his vision of the future.

That was in 2012 and was the first time that Pete had run a gastro pub. He spent 10 years

He had a third pub during that time, too. But it was the first to go, when he realised being “multi-sited was really tough”

The gin thing came about in 2016 when Pete admits that he realised he “couldn’t be running pubs all my life”.

“I got to the stage where I thought I needed to find something else to do and I was talking to someone I know who said a friend of ours was making gin,” he explains.

“I thought it couldn’t be that difficult and that’s where it all started.”

The right moment to start came the following year and he began researching in earnest.

“I took a lot of bad things away from some distilleries and a lot of good,” he adds. “I did a lot of research and that’s where the recipes come from. All my gins have a core recipe of botanicals and then they get taken on their own journeys; but they all have the same DNA.

Then in 2019 – just before the pandemic – he sold The Whitchurch back to the brewery after 12 years, leaving him to focus on The Newbury.

But he admits Covid “drained” him and he realised it was time for a new project.

And so Eat, Drink, Distill was born – after a successful pop up trial last Christmas.

“The expectations for here were high and the delivery is bang on,” he says.

“From day one it was well received and now I have everything all under one roof.

“The feedback is phenomenal. We are pretty sure we’re the only distillery in a shopping centre in the UK. I like doing things first.

“We have won more awards in two years than any other craft distiller in the country.

“I absolutely love what I do. If you can get a career that you can actually say you love doing you are a very lucky person.”

Pete has also just been installed in the Gin Guild, which only has just over 400 members worldwide, which he describes as “a real honour”.

He said he is pleased to be achieving all he set out to by now in his business plan, but it’s a real labour of love – he bottles, labels and wax seals all of his own bottles; last week he did 300 bottles.

His stills are all named too – Laima is his vodka still; Vera – named after his nan – distills his core range; and Elizabeth will soon be creating the Royal Range.

And there’s “a lot in the pipeline” for Pete. His gins will be stocked in a new hotel due to open in Blackfriars, London soon and his plan is to evenutally have multiple sites – seeing ‘Eat, Drink, Distill’ in Bristol and London would be his dream.

He also wants Lumber’s Bartholomew to be worldwide.

“Every day is a different challenge but that’s life,” he says.

Eat, Drink, Distill is a sponsor of the Newbury Weekly News Best in Business Awards at Newbury Racecourse on Friday, March 31, 2023.