Sales director Ian McDonald is retiring after over 40 years at Glasgow-based wholesaler JW Filshill.
He will continue working on projects at the company before stepping down in January 2018.
McDonald played an important role in developing the KeyStore brand across Scotland and the north of England. He facilitated KeyStore’s collaboration with the Clydebank Co-op and played a significant role in securing the business of the 50-strong Morning Noon & Night chain in 2004, which had a turnover of £30m at the time.
“KeyStore has grown to become a major force in the convenience store sector,” said McDonald.
“There are numerous exciting and new initiatives coming up and I am delighted to be leaving the business in such a position of strength.”
Filshill MD Simon Hannah said: “Ian’s foresight and understanding of the growing data-led culture within the retail sector has been instrumental in our decision to focus significantly on supporting our customers with EPoS systems. He was also responsible for bringing Shopflow - third party supply - to Filshill and this currently has a turnover in excess of £6m.”
Craig Brown will join the wholesaler in its new role of retail sales director, overseeing all sales activities.
His most recent role was as co-owner of west of Scotland food and drink consultancy Ross & Brown, where he landed a deal to supply Asda with Scottish craft beer from Craft Beer Clan of Scotland, a division of Filshill. He is currently working on Filshill’s new fresh and chill concept with Glasgow-based wholesaler delivery service Lomond-The Wholesale Food Co.
This appointment comes as Filshill seeks to promote locally sourced food and drink brands in convenience stores.
“Ian has big shoes to fill but he leaves the business in great shape and I am ready to hit the ground running,” said Brown. “The convenience sector is forecast to grow 17.7% to £47.1bn in the next five years so we need to be proactive in our approach - we can do that with our multi-format offer comprising KeyStore, KeyStore Express and our new KeyStore More fascia.”
No comments yet