An interview with Jordan Davis, Head of Bars at Rockliffe Hall

Simple, credible, and present: How top bars want brands to show up in 2026

Drinks brands spend a lot of time talking about the on-trade. Less time listening to it.

So we sat down with Jordan Davis, Head of Bars at Rockliffe Hall, a five-red-star resort in County Durham, to talk candidly about what actually matters right now: brand relevance, menu decisions, training that sticks, and why simplicity is quietly winning.

No theory. No fluff. Just bar-level reality.

First up — what kind of bar operation are we actually talking about?

Our guests range massively. Being a five red star resort, we genuinely have people from all walks of life, business guests, celebrations, members, silver surfers, spa guests, you name it.

We pride ourselves on the standards we hold and maintain, and regardless of the occasion, everybody is welcomed with that North Eastern charm we really pride ourselves on.”

In terms of the bars themselves, we have multiple at present and more being built and renovated as we speak. We currently have two bars in the clubhouse overlooking the golf course, one attached to our clubhouse restaurant and Spikes, which is our members’ bar.

We also have the bar in Café Terra for spa guests, a juice bar within the spa itself, and then lastly our Reserve Bar, which is the main hotel bar offering our largest selection of spirits, cocktails and vintage cocktails.

On top of that, we have three new bars currently being built. The Rialto Bar will sit within our newly refurbished orangery. We also have a new and improved cocktail bar coming, which we aspire to push toward UK Top 50, World’s Top 50 and a few other pinnacles. Of course, that’s all in time and very much in line with the strategic beverage programme I’m building.

Which drinks brand has genuinely impressed you recently, and why?

The brand that’s made the biggest impression on me recently would be Ellers Farm Distillery, home of Dutch Barn Vodka.

Born in Yorkshire, distilled in Yorkshire — it’s everything Yorkshire and the North prides itself on. I’m a Yorkshire boy living in County Durham, so I’ll never forget my roots.”

They’re B Corp certified, they really embody bartenders, and their ambassador programmes are incredible. There’s nothing super flashy about what they do — they just genuinely embody the brand they’re passionate about and relay that story to other bartenders. That authenticity goes a long way.

So what brand behaviour feels outdated now?

The approach that doesn’t work anymore is the very old-school method. Selling you dreams with whistles and bells, pushing hard for the listing, then once they’ve got it… you never see them again.

There’s also an issue with brands that aren’t willing to share the back bar with other products. So many small distilleries are absolutely thriving right now, and if we want the industry to keep moving forward, we need to support local and support each other.

When it comes to menu listings, what actually drives the decision?

For me, it’s quite simple. Does it fit our mantra? Does it fit our clientele? And is the product genuinely good enough to replace something else on the menu?”

Of course, every brand thinks their product is the best and you have to think that. But what really sells is the genuine passion and love behind it.”

Yes, the liquid inside the bottle matters massively, but so does whether it’s relatable, whether it’s marketable, and whether it actually works within our menu. Those are the main things I’m thinking about when making those decisions.etable? Does it work on our menu? Passion and belief carry real weight here.

What’s the fastest way for a brand to lose credibility?

Forgetting about you. Being here one day and gone the next.

I don’t expect weekly drop-ins that’s not realistic but bring your colleagues in, show them what we’re doing with your products, and give us some love on social media. That’s one of the best marketing tools we have right now.

It’s not all about numbers and pound signs.

Best brand training you’ve experienced, and why it worked?

I recently had the pleasure of being taken to the Johnnie Walker Experience by our Diageo rep, and honestly, it was incredible.

Johnnie Walker has such a stale stigma around it. People assume blended whisky means poor quality. I won’t go too deep into it here, but go and do the experience, I promise your outlook will change.

The passion, the story, the interaction… it completely reframes how you think about the brand.

What makes you never skip a brand training session?

I’ll never skip a brand training session. I think skipping shows a lack of respect — and if I skipped it, that would basically mean I think I know everything about that brand.”

This industry is incredible, and no one person knows everything. Every day is a school day, even when you do make it to the top.

From service reality, what makes a branded serve workable?

To make a branded serve workable, it needs to do three things: be simple, taste incredible, and look great.

Some brands get caught down the rabbit hole and massively overcomplicate things. When it’s busy, you need serves you can actually churn out for want of a better phrase.

We don’t need 50 steps to create a serve, despite what some brands believe. Simple, elegant, and tasting bloody great will always win.

If you were designing the ‘perfect’ brand serve for a busy premium bar, what rules would it follow?

Exactly the same three principles. Simple to craft, looks incredible, and tastes amazing.

As the saying goes, sometimes less is more. The market is becoming over-diluted with unnecessary steps for so-called ‘perfect’ brand serves.

What’s your temperature check on the on-trade right now?

Trade is an ever-changing daily occurrence at the moment. The biggest shift we’re seeing is a much more health-conscious mindset.

People are really engaging with non alcoholic and mid-strength ranges. We’re fortunate that we can create genuinely great-tasting mocktails that aren’t just juices and syrups, so we can still tell a story through our menus, just with a non-alcoholic mindset.

If you could give drinks brands one piece of advice this year, what would it be?

Keep the doors open with all your customers. The industry is hard enough right now with financial hikes coming from every direction.

I understand that some of that has to be passed on to the consumer, but if we can all support each other, surely we can continue to strive and grow together.

And finally, we have to ask, what’s your favourite brand right now, and why?

I’d probably say Black Cow Vodka.

They’re an English vodka with a real agricultural story. It aligns perfectly with independent venues, sustainability-conscious consumers, and menus that want to highlight provenance rather than global, generic big names.

It’s confident, but not flashy. Refined rather than loud.

Jordan Davis is Head of Bars at Rockliffe Hall, a five-red-star resort in County Durham with a complex, multi-venue bar operation spanning members’ bars, spa concepts, destination cocktail bars and large-scale hospitality. With hands-on experience building strategic beverage programmes, leading premium bar teams and working closely with drinks brands at the sharp end of service, Jordan brings a practical, operator-first perspective on what genuinely works in the on-trade and what doesn’t.