Will Pitchforth (Attended 1994-2000)
Published May 2025
Will Pitchforth (1994-2000) has shared his remarkable journey from the classrooms of Wellington to the whisky cellars of Scotland and beyond. Starting in Standard 4 and finishing in Sixth Form, albeit partially abroad, he left school a year early to pursue university studies, driven by a desire to step into the wider world.
During his time at Scots, Ian McKinnon served as Headmaster, a figure Will remembers fondly as a strong and principled leader with a deep appreciation for history. McKinnon’s leadership left a lasting impression, shaping many of the values Will carried forward.
He recalls a period of significant infrastructure development at Scots, including the construction of the ICT Centre and the new library complex in the late 1990s. The Shelly Lecture Theatre was also built during this time, with Tony Shelly famously arriving by helicopter for its opening.
This era of modernisation at Scots, marked by a shift toward shared learning and early ICT integration, left a strong impression. Yet, what stood out most was the enduring strength of the House system and the school’s pastoral care, elements he believes were instrumental in shaping boys into young men.
Now a father of two boys, he reflects on how his Scots experience influences his own decision-making as he considers schools for his children. The vertical integration of the House system, the sense of structure, and the broad range of extracurricular opportunities, from music to sport, remain key benchmarks in his mind.
After Scots, he enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington, completing a degree in biomedical science by age 18 and a second degree by 19. Despite early academic success, he found himself drawn away from hospital research and into hospitality, eventually managing several bars in Wellington.
In 2007, he relocated to Australia and joined a French wine and spirits company, spending four years in Paris before returning to Brisbane in 2015. There, he completed an MBA at the University of Queensland and launched his own company, which is now approaching its 10th anniversary.
His career later took him to Scotland, where he served as commercial director for a distillery that was revived and successfully reestablished under a new ownership. Since stepping away from that role in early 2023, he has focussed on growing his own business, which now supports 30 to 40 clients globally. His team of five, based around the world, works with companies on everything from logistics and distribution to product development and capital raising.
One of those clients is Waiheke Whisky, a New Zealand distillery with which he has developed a close working relationship. Through this connection, a special opportunity arose when Christian Zachariassen, Will’s former Sixth Form maths teacher, reached out about collaborating on a Centenary Whisky to celebrate 100 years of the Scots College Pipe Band.
Though Will wasn’t involved in the Pipe Band during his school years (his brief attempt at the chanter was, according to his mother, “mercifully short”), he immediately saw the potential for a meaningful collaboration. Centenary fits the bill perfectly, a unique blend of New Zealand single malt and Scottish blended whisky, a symbolic tribute to Scots College’s heritage and its enduring connection to both countries.
This limited-edition whisky is available exclusively to the Scots community, celebrating a century of tradition, music, and school spirit. For Will, it’s a full-circle moment, and an opportunity to give back to the school that helped shape his journey from student to global entrepreneur.
The Centenary Whisky can be purchased directly from Waiheke Whisky.
Do you have a story to tell? We'd love to hear from you. Contact us at [email protected].