Available to book
William Chase
Entrepreneurship
Resilience
Business Strategy
Turn obstacles into opportunities with Tyrrells and Chase Distillery founder, William Chase. A formidable serial entrepreneur, William specialises in building premium brands, product innovation, and sustainable, farm-to-product business models. From being declared bankrupt to becoming the British business icon he is today, William shares his journey and hard-won insights to help organisations fundamentaly shift in how they think about adversity, innovation, and what it really takes to build something that lasts.
World Earth Day
World Environment Day
Innovator
Entrepreneur
Business Leader
Author
Founder
CEO
Inspirational
William Chase is a serial entrepreneur known for building premium food and drink brands from the ground up. As the founder of Tyrrells Potato Chips and Chase Distillery, he has spent his career turning farm produce into globally recognised products while championing sustainable farming.
William founded Tyrrells Potato Chips in 2002 after supermarkets rejected his potatoes for being the wrong shape. He went on to sell the business six years later for £40 million. William then established Chase Distillery, creating the first single-estate vodka and gin made entirely from farm-grown ingredients. His latest venture, Willy's Probiotic Living Foods, produces fermented foods and drinks using regenerative farming methods. He also founded Selladore Wines, growing and producing wine biodynamically in Provence.
William's experience spans bankruptcy in his early thirties, rebuilding from scratch, and creating multiple brands that challenged established industries. His work explores how agriculture, craftsmanship, and entrepreneurship can combine to create distinctive, innovative products.
William shares lessons drawn from decades of building businesses through experimentation, adversity, and long-term thinking. He speaks candidly about the realities of failure, the discipline required to build premium brands, and the courage needed to challenge dominant players in established markets. His story traces the journey from bankruptcy to building businesses that would ultimately be sold to global investors and industry leaders.
Audiences gain an unfiltered perspective on entrepreneurship and resilience, alongside practical insight into product innovation, brand authenticity, and sustainable farm-to-product business models. Through real examples from his own ventures, William explores the art of scaling without losing quality and how long-term value is created by staying close to the source of production.
Book William to discover how setbacks, innovation, and discipline build enduring businesses.
William Chase remains one of the most credible voices on building premium brands from scratch, having turned rejection into £40 million exits with Tyrrells and Chase Distillery. His candid account of bankruptcy, rebuilding, and challenging established FMCG players gives leadership teams practical insight into resilience, product innovation, and long-term value creation without compromising quality.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email william.chase@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm William's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
William Chase draws on first-person case studies from his own ventures — Tyrrells, Chase Distillery, and Willy's Probiotic Living Foods — to illustrate principles of brand building, using each business as a concrete example of a specific lesson, such as recovering from bankruptcy, scaling without losing quality, or challenging established market players.
William Chase speaks on entrepreneurship, brand building from agricultural origins, resilience through adversity, sustainable and regenerative farming practices, and product innovation in the food and drink sector. He founded Tyrrells Potato Chips in 2002 following bankruptcy and sold the business six years later for £40 million, subsequently establishing Chase Distillery, Willy's Probiotic Living Foods, and Selladore Wines.
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Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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