Berry Bros MD Jeremy Parsons steps down

Berry Bros. & Rudd has announced COO and International MD Jeremy Parsons is to step down from his role from the end of the month.

He will be replaced by Natalie Tennent, who has been COO of BBR Spirits since last spring, who will take on his International Wine and Spirits responsibilities.

Berry Bros. & Rudd chairman Simon Berry said he was “extremely grateful” for Parson’s contribution during his eleven years at the independent retailer, and thanked him in particular for his commitment and loyalty, as well as his support for new CEO, Dan Jago, who joined the company in October.

He also commended the role Parsons played in last year’s strategic review, which saw him lead the international wine business through a major re-structuring exercise.

“Jeremy has been instrumental in leading the Spirits team for more than 8 years through the sale of Cutty Sark and the creation of BB&R Spirits where the team has been successfully developing a portfolio of super-premium brands,” he said. “We will miss him but understand his reasons for leaving and want to wish him well.”

“With Dan now fully operational and the new organisational structure announced, Jeremy has decided it is a natural transition point for him to look for his next career move and will be leaving the business at the end of May,” he added.

Parsons was appointed COO of the London wine retailer last summer when BBR announced former Tesco’s category director Dan Jago would join the company as CEO from October. The appointments followed a management shake-up in March which saw the departure of md Hugh Sturges. Parsons initially stepped up to the role of commercial director, with Natalie Tennent taking on some of his responsibilities for the spirit business.

Previously he was the CEO of BB&R Spirits for seven year having joined BBR in 2004 from Constellation Brands. Prior to that he had worked at Osborne y Compania in Spain, Diageo and United Distilleries.

In December, the company reported pre-tax losses of £11.3m – nearly half of which was attributed to ongoing litigation and debt recovery with a former distributor in Hong Kong – but insisted the business is on the “right track” for its long-term health, despite its performance falling “well short of expectations”.