Dewar's whisky boss Gray set to go

Published on Saturday 12 July 2008 14:24

THE boss of Dewar's, the Scotch whisky firm owned by Bacardi, is to leave his job amid a restructuring of the business.

Garry Gray, who last August announced a 120m expansion of the whisky firm, will leave his position at the end of the summer.

In a letter to staff seen by Scotland on Sunday, Dewar's chairman John Broadbridge said his role will be replaced with an operations director.

He said: "We thank Garry for his contribution to the development of John Dewar & Sons and wish him every success in whatever he chooses to do in the years ahead.

"I am pleased to announce also that Garry has agreed, over the coming weeks, to help us with the transition to the new organisational model that we will be adopting following his departure. This will see the appointment of Iain Lochhead to the new position of operations director."

In recent years Bacardi has moved to centralise its European businesses with more operations located in Geneva.

The news comes amid renewed speculation that Bacardi is to float. The Bermuda-based drinks group is understood to have appointed two additional directors and, in so doing, has re-ignited IPO speculation. Melanie Healey, from Proctor & Gamble, and Roman Martinez, from Lehman Brothers, will both join the company.

A multi-billion-dollar float would provide funds to enable Bacardi to continue to compete in a rapidly changing global spirits market which, in recent months, has seen companies such as Heineken and Carlsberg buy Scottish & Newcastle.

Last summer Bacardi, which owns the Perthshire-based firm, as well as distilleries in the north and north-east, announced it was to treble its production.