Our Team

Dan Malyon is Head of Trading at Ampel. After working at IG Wines (now Lay & Wheeler Trading), he joined Ampel to lead market execution, sourcing and trading relationships.

Dan combines sharp commercial judgement with a practical understanding of pricing, liquidity and real-world demand. He works closely with clients and the wider Ampel team to identify opportunities, negotiate effectively and ensure that every purchase or sale is executed intelligently.

Direct, analytical and highly market-aware, Dan believes recommendations should be grounded in genuine trading evidence rather than headline valuations. He works across the leading fine-wine regions and has a particular enthusiasm for rare and large-format bottles.

Harry Wilson is Head of Private Clients at Ampel. With more than a decade of experience in the wine and spirits industry, Harry began his career at Direct Wines, one of the UK's largest specialist wine merchants and the company behind renowned brands including Laithwaites and Averys, where he also earned his WSET Level 3 qualification in Wines and Spirits.

He then joined Fine & Rare Wines in the City, where he specialised in fine and investment-grade wines from the world's most respected producers. Harry later joined IG Wines (now Lay & Wheeler Trading), where he spent the majority of his career working with high-net-worth individuals, family offices and passionate wine collectors across the globe, helping them build and manage exceptional wine collections and investment portfolios.

Harry's approach is built on deep market expertise, transparency, and long-term relationships, helping clients navigate the fine wine market with confidence.

Outside of work, Harry is an avid sports fan, competing in target shooting in both the UK and France, and a lifelong supporter of both Manchester United and Shrewsbury Town (the latter having provided particularly painful viewing over the years). With a love of wine and spirits comes a love of food; as well as scrambling for reservations at the latest Michelin-starred restaurants, he is a keen BBQ-er and is happy to light it up at any time of year!

Daren Balman is Head of Operations and Trade Sales at Ampel. He brings 20 years as an equity trader at a leading City investment bank together with a deep passion for fine wine. After completing his WSET Advanced certificate and travelling extensively through many of the world's great wine regions, he moved into the wine industry full-time.

Following seven years at Sterling Fine Wines, Daren joined Ampel, bringing together disciplined trading expertise and a genuine love of wine. A committed Burgundy enthusiast, occasional harvest helper and collector of all things oenological.

When not immersed in wine, he's likely watching football or out on the golf course.

Abigail "Abby" Friedman is Head of Commercial Strategy and Development at Ampel. Originally from the United States, her passion for fine wine began while working in Paris before she moved to London to join the team at the renowned natural wine bar, Terroirs. She subsequently joined Bibendum Wine's Fine Wine team before spending six years as Senior Buyer at Cru World Wine, where she developed extensive expertise in fine wine and long-term producer relationships.

After completing the WSET Diploma, Abigail returned to France to undertake the University of Bordeaux's Diplôme Universitaire d'Aptitude à la Dégustation (DUAD), dividing her time between Bordeaux and London before joining IG Wines (now Lay & Wheeler Trading) as Buying & Commercial Strategy Director. There, she combined responsibility for fine wine buying with commercial strategy, leading allocations and release campaigns across the world's leading wine regions while overseeing digital marketing, e-commerce and client engagement.

At Ampel, Abigail leads the company's buying, sourcing and commercial strategy, combining responsibility for producer relationships and portfolio development with digital marketing, e-commerce, trade partnerships and events to drive the continued growth of the business.

James McKellar is Chief Financial Officer and Co-Founder of Ampel. An experienced entrepreneur, finance professional and investor, James has built and supported businesses across renewable energy, technology and early-stage investment.

At Ampel, he leads financial strategy, planning, governance and business growth while bringing the perspective of an active fine-wine collector and trader. James is a serious wine lover with a particular interest in Bordeaux and Burgundy, alongside the world's leading fine-wine regions.

His combination of financial discipline and genuine collector enthusiasm helps ensure that Ampel's commercial decisions remain grounded in value, provenance, liquidity and the interests of its clients.

Paul Hammond is the Founder and CEO of Ampel. A fine-wine entrepreneur and technology innovator with more than 17 years' industry experience, Paul previously co-founded IG Wines and Sterling Fine Wines and has personally traded more than £150 million of fine wine.

He also founded software-development company Infinity Labz and holds the WSET Diploma, alongside qualifications in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence from Imperial College Business School and LLMOps from Duke University. At Ampel, Paul combines market expertise with AI and software design to build a more intelligent, transparent and client-focused wine merchant.

His personal passions include mature claret, white Burgundy, Napa Cabernet and the great wines of Tuscany.