A FORMER professional football who now lives in Melksham has been appointed as an additional UK brand ambassador for Woking-based Brockmans Gin.

The move provides a new goal for John Bagnall, a former professional footballer and gin buff who founded the House of Gin, a boutique gin festival, in 2015 following a ten-year career in the drinks and events industry.

His company runs a number of niche consumer experiential gin events, each attracting 250 to 300 people keen to try some of the leading gin brands.

John said: "I have a real passion for super-premium spirits, in particular gins. I am so excited to be working with Brockmans.

“This is a gin I just love and I'm keen to ensure that even more people have the chance to taste it. I've worked with a number of leading gin brands and this is my favourite so it's a dream come true to be working with the brand."

Mr Bagnall, of Woodrow Road, Melksham, was a professional footballer from 1990 to 2003 and played for a number of teams including Preston North End, Blackpool, Burnley, Chester City, Southport and a Manchester United Tournament Team.

He started out at Preston at 19 and made his football league debut at quite a young age. While at Southport, he also played at the old Wembley stadium.

In his new role, Mr Bagnall will support many of Brockmans consumer-facing events - such as gin tastings and GinFestival.com - which are managed by the company’s senior UK Brockmans Brand Ambassador, Mike Whatmough.

Laura Motson, Global Brand Manager for Brockmans, said: "We are selling to nearly 30 countries around the world and the UK continues to be a successful and very vibrant market for Brockmans.

“Ours is one of the fastest growing super-premium gins in the UK and there are more and more demands on the time of our splendid existing UK Brand Ambassador, Mike Whatmough.

“We therefore decided we needed an additional Ambassador and we are delighted to have been able to appoint John Bagnall who will look after top customers in the southern parts of Britain. We welcome him very warmly."

For the past year, Mr Bagnall has run his own House of Gin events and has also worked with GoPro to promote the camera company to major high street retailers such as Currys, Jessops and JLP.

A man with a passion for gin, Mr Bagnall has also worked for several other major gin brands, including Whitley Neill, Elephant, Brennan & Brown, Ish, Conker and Copperhead.

Previous roles have included a decade working with Halewood International Ltd, latterly as National Event Manager and previously as the firm's Southern Events Manager. Much of the sponsorship and promotional work involved drinks brands, a sector Mr Bagnall knows well.

His role involved negotiating and managing sponsorships and activities, as well as managing teams involved in running major music and sporting festivals such as Bestival, Global Gathering, Lovebox, BoardMasters, Cambridge Folk Festival, Liverpool International Music Festival, The Crabbies Grand National and The Scottish Open (Golf).