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News
Obituary: Yvonne May
Yvonne May, regional director for the UK and Europe for Wine Australia, has passed away.
May had been fighting a serious illness for some months. Andreas Clark, acting chief executive at Wine Australia said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce that our dearly loved colleague and friend Yvonne May, who has for the last few months been battling illness, passed away over the weekend.
“Yvonne was a tireless and passionate ambassador for our Australian wine community in her role as regional director – UK and Europe. We were richer for having her in our lives but now poorer with her leaving us much too soon.
“While those who knew her well will be grieving her loss, she would not want us to wallow and we should all continue to be inspired with how she embraced life and its opportunities.
“Our hearts go out to Yvonne’s husband David and her family during this difficult and sad time.”
May was a well-known and highly respected member of the UK trade, particularly with regard to Australian wine.
She began her career as UK and European marketing manager for Rosemount Estate and then spent many years co-founding and running her own PR agency, Lindsay May Marketing before joining Wine Australia in 2011.
She helped oversee a revitalised Australia regain some of its former popularity in the UK with an increased emphasis on quality and regionality.
Yvonne May will be greatly missed, she was a true professional and someone who set the standard when it came to her work at Wine Australia. Yvonne brought enthusiasm, gusto and positive energy in all she did. At a tough time for the Australian wine industry in the UK, Yvonne stepped up and was able reinvigorate our generic activity. She built bridges, revitalised the programme and above all injected energy into Australian Wine at a trade and consumer level.
The Australian Wine Industry thanks you Yvonne, we have lost a true believer and a great mate!
Our thoughts and prayers are with Yvonne’s family.
Very sad news.
I was the person who gave her the first job in the wine industry when she joined Lay & Wheeler to run our Southend store.
Great girl and always enjoyed her enthusiasm for life
Paul