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News
BUSINESS APPOINTMENTS
“standfirst”>Lamber finds sliver lining…Watch out Beadles about…Page turns for restaurant group…
Lambert finds silver lining
Keith Lambert has been appointed director and chairman of Cumulus Wines. He joins former Southcorp executives Jeffrey Wilkinson and Philip Shaw at the Orange winery, and, in addition, he will acquire a controlling 51% stake in Cumulus Wines from underwriter and insurer Assetinsure.As reported in The Sydney Morning Herald, Lambert left the Southcorp board, which included his father-in-law and Southcorp’s biggest share-holder Bob Oatley, after a significant drop in profits in the first half of 2002/03. Cumulus was set up by Assetinsure after it spent A$30m buying the winery, vineyard and assets of Reynolds Wines, which closed in 2003. Assetinsure, 50% owned by investment bank Babcock & Brown, had provided a bond to ANZ’s underwriting the Reynolds overdraft. Assetinsure had already recruited Philip Shaw, Southcorp’s former production chief, to Cumulus. He was Rosemount’s top winemaker before its merger with Southcorp and will become managing director for winemaking and production at Cumulus. He has twice been awarded the coveted Robert Mondavi Trophy for International Winemaker of the Year, as well as Australia’s Qantas Winemaker of the Year.
Jeffrey Wilkinson, the former head of Soutchorp Wines Europe, is Cumulus’s chief executive officer.
Watch out Beadles About
Jeremy Beadles has been appointed to succeed Quentin Rappoport as chief executive of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, starting on January 1st, 2006. Beadles, aged 34, says, “I am really looking forward to leading the WSTA, working with the board and the committed executive team, to improve the profile of the sector, recruit new members, develop new membership services and deliver significant value for membership.” He joins the WSTA from the British Retail Consortium which he joined five years ago as policy director before being promoted to commercial director then managing director. Prior to joining the BRC, Beadles was a solicitor with law firms Blake Lapthorn and Stewarts for eight years.
Barry Sutton, WSTA chairman, comments, “We are delighted to appoint Jeremy Beadles as chief executive. The sector needs a strong trade association and I believe that Jeremy is the right person to take the WSTA forward.”
Page turns for restaurant group
The Restaurant Group has announced a reshuffle among its executive directors to take effect in January. Managing director Andrew Page becomes chief executive after five years on the board, while executive chairman Alan Jackson converts to non- executive. Page joined the London-based Restaurant Group in 2001 as financial director before becoming managing director. Previously, he was financial director at Greenchip Investments and Hanover Int’l, having trained at KPMG.
Jackson brings extensive sector experience to the company which operates branded restaurants such as Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquito’s and Caffé Uno. He provides the most newtwork connections as he sits on four listed boards and at least three other private company boards which include Regent Inns, the De Vere Group and Woodrow Farm. He also joined in 2001, after holding some 20 directorships of leisure, brewing, property and food producing companies.
Full Beam ahead
Adrian McKeon, former MD at Allied Domecq Wine UK, is to become UK managing director of Jim Beam Brands (JBB), part of Fortune Brands, a $7 billion consumer brands company. McKeon will be in charge of an impressive portfolio including Courvoisier, Harveys Bristol Cream, Cockburn’s and Teacher’s.Ian Smith has been appointed commercial director at Matthew Clark. This new role has been created to co-ordinate all sales, purchasing and marketing activities within the company, following several years of rapid growth. Smith has been with Matthew Clark, since 1978 and his most recent role was sales director.Tom Selfridge brings a wealth of wine business experience to his new role as president of The Hess Collection Winery. His previous appointments include president and chief executive officer of the Chalone Wine Group; senior vice president, marketing and administration at the Kendall-Jackson Winery; and president of Beaulieu Vineyard.
Steve Best has joined United Wineries as a UK national account manager and will be based at the company’s London office, reporting to off-trade director, Emma Biggs. Best was previously commercial director with Castel UK and prior to that was with Matthew Clark.
© db November 2005