Helen and Naomi, the Co-Founders of ROCKTAILS, met through a leadership development organisation, AIESEC, and soon after formed a social enterprise in Cardiff whilst studying at the University Business School. Both Co-Founders later went on to work in London, Naomi for a FTSE 250 company and Helen for AIESEC.

It soon became apparent that Naomi’s passion and energy was stifled in the corporate world, but was dealt a lucky card when offered voluntary redundancy and left just 1 year later to pursue something more adventurous and rewarding.

Helen’s year long sabbatical with AIESEC involved inspiring young people to become the next generation of leaders, so when the time came to leave, she was reluctant to sell out to a corporate city job and was searching for something more fulfilling.

The pair had always enjoyed busy social lives in London, and spent more than enough time in Cocktail Bars around the city. However, they had a real problem re-creating this bar experience at home when they cooked for friends or organised parties; the ingredients were expensive, crushing ice was messy and no-one wanted to spend time in the kitchen away from the craic (as Helen would say). They sat on the idea for quite a while and nothing came to the market which filled the gap. It was only when Naomi started planning a little summer money spinner (selling alcoholic slush-puppies out the back of an ice-cream van on the beach in Cornwall) did it occur that what they should really do was actually create a cocktail which met this need for being able to enjoy bar quality cocktails at home and with a little bit of research, the idea quickly evolved.

The big leap came at the end of August; after copious weekends and evenings spent planning the business and juggling their fulltime jobs, Helen and Naomi decided to work fulltime on the business. On 7 September 2010 they opened their office, where they set about turning their ideas into a reality...this was the start...