William Campbell-Rowntree is the General Manager at Nine Lives in London Bridge.
Hailing from Newcastle upon Tyne, William has spent the last six years in London, working at some of the city’s most reputable bars, including Artesian, and Raffles at The OWO.
William’s creative background informs his approach to hospitality and the recent development of the new ‘7 Year Itch’ menu at Nine Lives. His new drinks program is the culmination of working closely with Head Chef Ramon Ramos on a menu inspired by Ramon’s Mexican heritage, creating complementary dishes and drinks that expand upon the spirit of Nine Lives. William’s extensive experience at bars across the country includes the position of Head Bartender up to 2024 at Raffles London at The OWO. Before that he was at The Langham for several years supervising the team at the Artesian bar. During his time there it regained recognition within the World’s 50 Best Bars, winning awards for Best Team and Best Menu. William has also competed in and won individual competitions, such as the No.3 Gin Unlock Taste Competition and was a UK finalist for the last Bacardi Legacy competition.
“The use of teas in cocktails always provides excitement and surprise.
With such a wide range and growing popularity of teas across the world, learning and developing drinks with tea is always interesting as there is a lot of experimentation to find the right blance.
Just because the aroma of a tea is great, doesn’t mean that once made into a cordial and added to a drink that it will come through. So, it is a game to see how you creatively tackle these problems. There is always something interesting to learn from this development.”
