Morrison Bowmore Distillers Invests in Sales and Marketing

Morrison Bowmore Distillers, a leading producer of single malt Scotch whisky, continues to grow with five new appointments within its sales and marketing team.

The new members of staff will play key roles in developing the company’s brands through sales activity, consumer and trade education, tastings, masterclasses and experiential events.

Phil Nickson has been appointed business development executive for London to strengthen Morrison Bowmore’s presence in this area, with a focus on the on-trade. He joins the company from London agency Box Marketing, where he was responsible for developing premium drinks brands within flagship on-trade accounts.

Paul Goodwin has been appointed business development executive for Scotland, with a particular focus on the on-trade in the central belt. He previously spent four years developing the sales of Diageo’s brands in the east coast of Scotland’s on-trade, where he also developed a passion for single malt Scotch whisky.

Both Paul and Phil will work across three brands – Auchentoshan, Bowmore and Glen Garioch.

Claire Keene also joins Morrison Bowmore from Diageo, where she worked as a business development executive with the on-trade. Her new role is regional sales executive for the domestic and travel retail markets in the Nordic and Baltic regions, working across all Morrison Bowmore brands, including McClellands and Midori.

The company’s commitment to strengthening its presence online is reflected in the appointment of Joe Hughes in the new role of digital marketing manager.

He joins Morrison Bowmore from Optical Express, where he worked as search and social media manager. Prior to this Joe worked in a variety of agency and client side roles at Yomego, Hilton, SMG and Tennents.

Joe will be responsible for the development of all online marketing activity across Morrison Bowmore’s brand portfolio.

Iain McCallum, meanwhile, has been appointed master of malts, taking on a global educational role within the sales and marketing team covering all key markets. Iain first joined Morrison Bowmore as a school leaver aged 16, initially as a trainee laboratory technician within the Springburn head office.

After qualifying as an organic chemist, he quickly rose through the ranks to senior blender and distillery manager at Auchentoshan. He was believed to be Scotland ’s youngest distillery manager at 33 – certainly the youngest in Auchentoshan’s 185-year history.

In distillery and blending operations, Jeremy Stephens, former head distiller at Auchentoshan, replaces Iain McCallum as senior blender for Morrison Bowmore.

Alistair McDonald, previously distilleries engineer at Auchentoshan, and Kenny Grant, previously head distiller at Glen Garioch distillery, are now managers at their respective distilleries.

Morrison Bowmore Distillers was founded in 1951. The company now employs over 200 people across the three distilleries, head office, sales team and bottling plant in Glasgow.

Mike Keiller, CEO, Morrison Bowmore Distillers, commented: "These are exciting times for Morrison Bowmore.

"Our new appointments will provide a dynamic change across our distillery, blending and brand ambassador operations, and enable continued growth.

"The creation of these roles reflects our commitment to highest quality in lining up a team of expert personnel to deliver this, and Morrison Bowmore proves an attractive environment for these talented professionals to develop their careers."

Morrison Bowmore was founded in 1951 and is now one of the leading producers of Scotch whisky. With three malt whisky distilleries situated in the major production areas of Islay (Bowmore), the Highlands (Glen Garioch) and the Lowlands (Auchentoshan) and significant blending, bottling and warehousing facilities, the company has established a leading role as a producer and exporter of single malt Scotch whisky.

The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of family-owned Japanese spirits and beer group, Suntory.

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