New boss appointed at Chivas

The Chivas plant at Kilmalid in Dumbarton. Picture by Bill Heaney

February 10, 2018 – Jean Christophe-Coutures has been appointed as the new chief executive of Chivas in Dumbarton where he will take over from fellow Frenchman Lauren Lacassagne, who is leaving the whisky giant after 30 years there.

M Coutures will oversee the move of more than 400 staff from their present place of employment in Paisley to Kilmalid in Dumbarton, formerly the home of Allied Distillers who moved there from Castle Street in the centre of the town.

Scotch whisky sales are booming at present in China and a sales drive is taking place in India, where the market could be vast.

Pernod Ricard boss Alexandre Ricard is positive about diversification and growth across trading regions which include Europe, where sales grew three per cent last year.

Ballantine’s, which was distilled, laid down and bottled in Dumbarton from around 1940, is said to have played a major part in the company’s growth in China, where there is a strong demand for Martell Cognac.