How Lyre's Spirits Co transformed recruitment with Compono

Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirits Co, a trailblazer in the global beverage industry, is renowned for crafting the world's most awarded range of non-alcoholic spirits. Founded in 2019, the company has since grown its team from four to over 70 employees, operating across more than 50 markets. With a mission to lead this emerging category, Lyre’s has set a high benchmark for quality and innovation in their industry.

We spoke with Paul Gloster, Chief Marketing Officer at Lyre’s, to discuss how the company tackled its rapid growth by leveraging Compono’s HR tech solution to streamline recruitment and secure top-tier talent around the globe.

The challenge

From the start, Lyre's faced the fast-paced demands of scaling a start-up with limited resources. “Early on, the speed of our growth coupled with a start-up team multi-tasking across different functions was a pain point,” explains Gloster.

“Many of us wore a lot of hats, which made finding the right skill set and cultural fit essential, especially as we were recruiting heavily in a highly attractive and competitive emerging category.”

Hiring the right talent efficiently was critical to keeping up with operations across multiple continents. Manual recruitment processes proved unsustainable as the company expanded. Balancing the day-to-day demands of growth with building the foundational aspects of the business left very little time to focus on strategic hiring.

"We needed to get close to the best fit in the shortest possible time," said Gloster.

Without a scalable recruitment system, hiring inefficiencies risked becoming a bottleneck. The challenge wasn’t only about hiring rapidly; they needed candidates who could hit the ground running and thrive in the unpredictable dynamics of a start-up, all while aligning with Lyre’s culture and values.

The catalyst for change

For Lyre’s, the solution needed to do more than just address recruitment. It had to be a tool that could fast-track the hiring process while ensuring that hires were long-term investments for the business. Gloster says,

“Lyre’s is a forward-looking business that embraces modern ways, so having an HR tech solution such as Compono Hire available to us was a major catalyst for growth.”

After hearing about Compono from an investor, the decision to partner with them became easy.

“Compono gave us an easy-to-implement solution for our unique challenge of screening multiple candidates across geographically dispersed functions while ensuring we were allocating the right time to the right candidates,” says Gloster.

Implementation

Rolling out Compono was straightforward.

“There was very little to no change required,” says Gloster. “We built it into our people and culture strategy and embedded it into the way we do things.”

The platform’s user-friendly features allowed Lyre’s to integrate its recruitment process quickly and without disruption. Compono’s insights also added a layer of depth to candidate evaluations, providing valuable data points that helped the team identify key areas to explore during interviews.

The results

Compono marked a turning point for Lyre’s. Over two years, the company scaled from just four employees to over 70, expanding operations across five continents.

“We’ve been able to build an incredible team, hiring for everything from sales and marketing to supply chain, operations, admin, and finance,” shares Gloster.

The benefits of using Compono extended beyond growth. With top-tier talent on board, Lyre’s saw exceptional retention rates.

“Our retention has been remarkably high—we’ve retained almost all the talent we’ve on-boarded,” says Gloster.

This consistency in staffing allowed the company to focus its resources on driving innovation and furthering its leadership in the non-alcoholic spirits category.

For Gloster and his team, the platform has also saved countless hours in candidate screening, removing much of the heavy lifting during the early recruitment stages.

“Time-saving has been a huge benefit,” he notes. “It allowed us to fast-track the process and focus on the important details about a candidate, rather than spending time on the more basic elements.”

Additionally, the collaborative and repeatable nature of Compono’s screening criteria has enhanced internal communication and alignment.

Unexpected wins

One advantage Lyre’s wasn’t expecting was the impact on collaboration across the hiring team.

“The repeatability of the screening criteria ensured we were aligned across functions and helped create a more collaborative environment,” says Gloster.

The insights provided by the platform even had downstream benefits for onboarding, ensuring new hires were set up for success from day one.

Why Lyre's recommends Compono

Gloster has no hesitation in recommending Compono to other organisations, especially those navigating rapid growth or multi-market operations.

“Compono takes away the heavy lifting early in the recruitment stage,” he says. “They give you the time to draw from a deep pool of talent, with maximum insight and focus on the critical aspects of a potential candidate.”

For HR leaders seeking a solution to streamline recruitment, improve retention, and access a broader talent pool, Lyre’s experience makes a strong case for Compono as a trusted partner.

A final thought

Lyre’s rapid growth from a small team to a global beverage powerhouse shows their ability to adapt and innovate—not just with products but also in people and culture. With Compono, they’ve built a team that matches their growth while maintaining high standards in recruitment and retention. 

Whether you’re a scaling start-up or an established business seeking more efficient hiring, Compono provides solutions for modern challenges, proving the right team makes all the difference.