Gareth West - Chairman, Chief Executive officer

Mr. West helped found The Wine Bank, UK. In the role of Sales & Marketing Director he was instrumental in building the companies turnover from $1 to $25 million.  During his tenure at The Wine Bank, Gareth developed many innovative award winning new brands including Simply and the Body & Soul range.

In addition, since 1999, Gareth was been involved in the entertainment and production business. As producer, enjoying success, producing five movies, including “Pitfighter”, a martial arts action movie, starring Steven Bauer (“Scarface”, “Traffic”), which was released in June 2005 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment;  “Chasing Ghosts”, a thriller starring Michael Madsen (“Kill Bill”), which will be released later this year through Sony; “Unbeatable Harold”, which is currently in post-production and stars Dylan McDermott, Gladys Knight and Nicole DeHuff; “Ghost Game”, being distributed by American World Pictures and “Cult”, starring “Hustle & Flow”’s Taryn Manning.

Gareth’s ability to combine his entrepreneurial skill and experience in both the beverage and entertainment industries provides Encore Brands with many unique marketing opportunities.

 

Alex McKean  - Chief Financial Officer

Mr. McKean has been an independent management consultant for clients such as: Charles Drew University, First California Bank, American Apparel, Color Spot Nurseries, and International Aluminum, providing services in accounting, regulatory filings, compliance, M&A and valuations. Prior to establishing his own firm, Mr. McKean was with Parson Consulting working insuch areas as: strategy, financial modeling, SEC filings, process management and Sarbanes Oxley. Major clients included: Citigroup, Arvin Meritor, KeyEnergy, Ameriquest, and Ecolab. Mr. McKean has held positions as a controller and VP finance at 24:7 Film, VP of Finance at InternetStudios.com, Director of FP&A/SVP at Franchise Mortgage AcceptanceCompany, as Corporate Accounting Manager/Treasurer of Polygram Filmed Entertainment and Assistant Treasurer/Controller for State Street Bank. Mr.McKean holds an International MBA from Thunderbird's School of GlobalManagement and undergraduate degrees in Finance and Political Science.

 

Eric Barlund – Director

PreviouslyVice President central region of Nolet Spirits USA, Ketel One Vodka from 2000 to 2004. Under Mr. Barlund’s leadership, Ketel One Vodka grew to the second largest imported Vodka Brand in the Midwest region. In 2001, Mr. Barlund successfully introduced Ketel One Citron. From 1998 to 2000 Mr. Barlund was regional manager of Ketel One in 9 Midwest states with gross annual sales of $66 million. From 1989 to 1998 Mr. Barlund was district manager for Judge & Dolph LTD, a midwest distributor representing a large spirit portfolio including Allied Domecq, Sidney Frank, Grant and Sons, Barton Brands, Diageo and Nolet Spirits. Prior to becoming district manager at J & D, Mr. Barlund’s experience included merchandising, marketing and management of key accounts. Mr. Barlund has a BA in Communications and English from Indiana University.

 

Murray Williams – Director

Chief Financial Officer GTX Corp. Mr. Williams is a CPA and began his career in public accounting with KPMG. Mr. Williams was one of the founders of Buy.com and functioned as the companies CFO raising $200 million and taking the company public in 2000. At KPMG, he was a manager in their assurance practice overseeing a team of over 20 professionals specializing in financial services with an emphasis on public offerings, private financings and mergers/acquisitions.