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Conor McQuaid appointed CEO of Irish Distillers

Blackrock native Conor McQuaid has been appointed the new chief executive of Irish Distillers.

The move will see outgoing CEO Jean-Christophe Coutures move to head up Pernod Ricard's scotch whiskey business, Chivas Brothers.

Conor McQuaid has a long history in the industry, having joined Irish Distillers in 1998 as a regional manager for their southern European markets.

He has worked across the Pernod Ricard group for almost 20 years and will take up the new role on July 1, 2018.

He is currently executive vice-president of global business development at Pernod Ricard

The new appointment will bring the Louth man back to Ireland as he has been based in Cape Town for the last number of years.

Despite working overseas for some time, Conor has retained close links with the area, with family still living in the Dundalk area.

His appointment as CEO was announced as the global Irish drinks firm revealed that had broken the four million case milestone for Jameson whiskey in the first half of 2017.

The companies sales growth had reportedly grown from 12 percent in value and 11 percent in volume.

But the Blackrock man has come to the position at a 'challenging time' in the indsutry.

Irish distillers reported that the market for their spirits has grown strongly in the Asian and Latin American markets, however, the company said that the market for spirits in the Republic of Ireland 'remained challenging.'

Source: Independent.ie