British Port Association appoints first female treasurer

The Association of British Port Shippers has appointed its first woman treasurer in its 200-year history.

Natasha Bridge, a former chief blender at Taylor’s and non-executive director for Taylor’s parent company the Fladgate Partnership, will head up the Association for a year’s term, it was announced this morning.  As treasurer, she will preside over the Association, taking responsibility for the upkeep of its 18^th century Palladian HQ in Oporto, Factory House, as well as overseeing the annual programme of events.

The organisation, commonly know as the Factory House, is made up for seven historic port companies, including three belonging to the Fladgate Partnership (Taylor’s, Fonseca and Croft).

Bridge has spent nearly thirty years working in the wine and port industry and became the first woman elected to the association in 2010. She is a direct descendent of the Yeatman port family, whose ownership of Taylor’s dates back to the mid-19th century.

After taking a second degree in Sensorial Analysis at the University of Davis in California and a Marketing Diploma, she spend three years in food and wine PR before joining Taylor’s UK distributor Mentzendorff and Co Ltd. In 1994 she joined the family business in Portugal, where her father Alistair Robertson, now a non-executive chairman of the Fladgate Partnership, was CEO. She was Taylor’s chief blender until 2013, when she stepped down from the role and became a non-executive director of the company.

This year also marks the 325th anniversary of the Taylor’s brand, which has remained an independent family run business since its foundation in 1692.