John Palmer was born in West Dorset and on leaving school he spent three years with Whitbread in five breweries in the South of England.

On returning to Palmers in 1972, he understudied his father, Anthony Palmer, working through all aspects of the business. In 1976 he became a Director. In 1983 he was appointed Managing Director and became Chairman in 1986.

John is married with four daughters and his interests include fishing, skiing, cricket, golf, tennis and supporting his family’s equestrian ambitions.

Emily was appointed to the Board of Directors of Palmers in 2015 and joined the business fulltime in 2020. In her ‘previous life’ Emily lived and worked in London for nine years, working in Strategy & Corporate Development for Rothschild & Co, reviewing and delivering strategic projects for the group, and prior to that in Mergers & Acquisitions, helping advise on the sale of a number of consumer and retail businesses including Sipsmith and Farrow and Ball. During this time Emily also attained the CIMA Certificate in Business Accounting.

Emily studied Biology at Bristol University, where she met her husband Josh. They share a huge passion for wine (as well as beer!); they jointly studied for the WSET Wine & Spirits exams and spend most holidays discovering different wine regions. Emily enjoys most active pursuits, particularly walking and skiing, but realises she may have to pick up golf at some point to keep up with the rest of the management team at the Palmers’ Golf Day.

Josh joined Palmers in August 2023 to run the Free Trade business. He joins us after spending the majority of his career in finance, working in Advanced Execution Services sales at Credit Suisse in London before changing careers to move down to Dorset full-time to be with his family. In 2022, Josh joined his own family trade, importing and selling porcelain tiles and paving while also working in the wine industry, curating custom wine portfolios for private clients.

As you can guess by the surname, Josh is married to Emily having met at Bristol University where he studied History. While living in London, they completed their WSET Wine & Spirit Exams levels 1, 2 and 3 and took the opportunity to travel to different wine regions before the arrival of their daughter, Josie. A keen ale drinker (of course), golfer, an avid rugby and cricket fan, he also attempts to keep up with Emily on the ski slopes!

Jim joined Palmers in mid 2017 having spent the previous 17 years living in west London.

Jim started his career at the OXO tower, progressing through to senior management positions at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, The Savoy and Harvey Nichols Fifth floor before spreading his wings into multi-site management over a large geography with Mitchells and Butlers Browns Restaurants and Premium Country Dining group then, 4 years with Greene King’s Metropolitan Pub Company.

Now settled in Dorset with his wife and children, Jim can regularly be found picking up fossils along the beaches of Charmouth and Lyme and, is working hard on reducing his golf handicap to a respectable level.

Viki joined Palmers in July 2024 after living in Dorset for over ten years. She completed her professional qualifications at Molson Coors Brewing Company (UK) Limited in Burton-on-Trent. Before moving to Dorset, she worked for Bacardi Brown-Forman in Winchester. More recently, she worked for smaller FMCGs before returning to her true passion: beer.

In her free time, Viki enjoys spending time with her daughter and various pets, particularly Holly, the beloved red fox Labrador. She is also currently training for her third London marathon.

Darren Batten was born and bred in West Dorset. In 1992 he joined the Palmers’ bottling team as a Biology graduate, employed to write operating instructions for small pack operations. Following a WSET Higher Certificate, Diploma in Management Studies and an IBD Diploma in Brewing, he became Head Brewer in 2007.

He is devoted to real ale, interested in people and a great believer in teamwork, having spent many years interviewing and employing the majority of the brewery personnel.

He’s a keen sportsman and enjoys cycling, golf, cricket, skiing and long alley skittles. As a long-serving parish councillor and Round Tabler, Darren is involved in the community at many levels and supports many village pubs. Having travelled widely abroad, he’s recently bought a campervan and intends to explore more of the British Isles.

Born and bred in Dorset, Wayne Causley joined Palmers as Company Surveyor in 1996 taking responsibility for the whole property portfolio. Over the years, Wayne has project managed numerous successful pub refurbishments and is known for taking a real ‘hands on’ approach on site.

A passionate sports fan, Wayne is a regular at Anfield, watching his beloved Liverpool FC. Aside from football, Wayne enjoys watching live sports and music events.

Tom Hutchings was born in Bristol. He joined Courage Free Trade at the start of his career in the drinks industry and later moved to Dorset with his family to take up the appointment with Palmers. His interests include sailing, fishing and travel.