distillery hires Esther Yue and Stephen Mangham to lead regional and global operations

Global content studio distillery has added two industry veterans to lead their operations as they grow the business in APAC and around the world. With over 60 years of advertising experience between them, and CVs that include Ogilvy, Dentsu, McCann, and Saatchi’s, Stephen Mangham and Esther Yue are aiming to take distillery to the next level in their growth plans.

Mangham, who joins as Global Chief Operating Officer, spent 13 years in Singapore; first as Ogilvy Group Chairman before setting up his own agency which was sold to Dentsu. He returned to his home country, the UK, where he has been supporting distillerys global growth as a strategic advisor since 2020.

Mangham said: “I’ve been advising Global CEO Steve Wheen for two years, and this role seemed a natural evolution. distillery has a client list to die for and their future is very bright. I want to help them get stronger as they continue to rapidly grow.”

Yue is no stranger to operations, having led teams at Saatchis, BBDO, Dentsu, Craft Worldwide APAC, and most recently with IPG APAC studios. She will be based in the Singapore office as Head of Operations, APAC.

Yue said: “I am excited to embark on this new and exciting chapter with distillery, and look forward to adding my commercial operations management experience to the group’s established regional and global leadership and creativity”.

APAC MD Simon Hearn, said: “Adding Esther and Stephen to our team is a huge win, and a clear demonstration of our intent to make distillery a major player in APAC, and globally. We’re growing our team and capabilities across all our offices, so having their experience to help build whats next will be invaluable to our success, and the impact we have on our clients”.

Earlier this year distillery officially opened its San Francisco office – the specialist content business offers a round-the-clock production model for its clients to deliver scaled global content programmes, as well as help brands in the US enter and grow across the EMEA and APAC markets. After investing heavily in APAC, the company hopes to continue its growth and has committed to promoting positive impact and helping companies harness the power of content.