THE boss of Chivas Brothers is the new chairman of the Scotch Whisky Association.
Jean-Etienne Gourgues, who has led Dumbarton-based Chivas since July 2021, has been appointed to the post at the distillers' body for a two-year term.
He declared it was “vital” that the industry unites to meet its “common challenges”.
Mr Gourgues said: "The Scotch Whisky Association has been instrumental in transforming Scotch into a global success. Now more than ever, it’s vital that we work together as an industry to meet common challenges, recognising that we can achieve more through collaboration than we can by standing alone. I look forward to working with my fellow council members to secure a bright future for Scotch, taking forward all we’ve learned the past 200 years to pave a sustainable, responsible path ahead."
READ MORE: Scotch whisky giant steadies the ship after 'soft' start
The chairman of the SWA heads the association’s council, which comprises 16 representatives from member companies. It meets four times a year to support and advise on the Scotch whisky industry’s strategic priorities on behalf of its members. Mr Gourgues succeeds Diageo as council chairman and is the association’s 23rd chairman in its 112-year history.
Mark Kent, chief executive of the SWA, said: “We are pleased to welcome Jean-Etienne as council chair during a crucial time for the Scotch Whisky industry.
“The sustainability of our sector – whether that’s working to meet net-zero ambitions, ensuring the long-term market share of Scotch in global markets, or building skills in our current and upcoming workforce – is of huge importance for Scotch whisky producers of all sizes. Jean-Etienne’s guidance and focus in this key area will be of great value to our sector as we navigate the coming years, and the SWA and its council look forward to working with him and the wider industry to drive those priorities.”
READ MORE: Glasgow engineering giant Weir Group signals growth hopes
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here