By Scott Wright
SCOTTISH brewing industry veteran John Gilligan has called time on his full-time career, 41 years after starting out as a trainee salesman with Drybrough in 1978.
Mr Gilligan, who went on to hold senior roles with Scottish & Newcastle and William Morton before being given the top job at Tennent Caledonian Breweries in 2011, has worked his final day as an official employee of the Glasgow brewing giant. He will continue to serve as a part-time director of Drygate, the craft brewery and bar which Tennent’s owner C&C Group runs with Williams Bros.
READ MORE: Gilligan takes charge of Tennent's wholesale team
Mr Gilligan, who was thrust into the spotlight when he teamed up with Dave King and Paul Murray to seize control of Rangers in 2015, said it has been a “blast” to spend his career in an industry which has undergone tumultuous change in the last two decades.
And he told The Herald he has relished his time at Tennent’s after unexpectedly being given the chance to lead the Glasgow giant at the age of 59, following an approach by C&C boss Stephen Glancey. The opportunity came shortly after C&C acquired the Tennent’s business from AB InBev, under which it had focused heavily on distributing others’ brands.
READ: Tennent’s puts in a resilient performance this summer
“That was a shock,” Mr Gilligan recalled. “We just did so well, it was great. What we did was to take back our own footprint. We had a big investment budget… and in just over three years we did £20-odd million and doubled the bottom line profit. It was an amazing run. There are some great people in there.”
Mr Gilligan stepped down as Tennent’s managing director in 2014 but has retained a senior presence at the business since.
On his time at Rangers, the lifelong supporter said it was an “awesome experience” to have served on the board and contributed to the club’s rebuilding. Mr Gilligan, who stepped down as a director in 2017, believes the club is now “on the right road” but admits he did not appreciate the scale of the task when he joined.
“The club was basically broken,” he said. “We all underestimated that.”
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