John Wakely is a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers in London. For over 20 years he has been involved in the research of the international alcoholic drinks industry, being one of the first analysts in the City to undertake cross-border sector analysis of the consumer industry. He has worked in both the City and on Wall St, moving to London in 1985 to become Merrill Lynch's first analyst in Europe. He has achieved many rankings as a leading drinks analyst, but his most treasured ranking is to have been voted the 'spirits' analyst, in a competition sponsored by Pernod Ricard and to have received his weight – nearly 100kg – in malt whisky.