Angus McPherson has been announced as the new managing director for Diageo Australian and New Zealand. He will be responsible for the whole business including manufacturing, marketing and sales.
McPherson said he was excited to join the company that was “globally one of the best brand builders in our industry. I look forward to working with the team in Australia, building on the platform that David and the entire team have put in place over the past five years.”
He is replacing current MD David Smith who is taking up a new role with Diageo as MD, Southern Europe (Food & Drink Business, 13/03/2020).
“These are challenging times for many of our customers, and I’m energised around working to find solutions to support the customers that are such great partners with Diageo,” McPherson said. He will report to Diageo president Greater China and Asia Sam Fisher, and will start on 20 April.
Fisher said: “I’m delighted to welcome Angus to Diageo. He has many years of international experience working in the beverage alcohol industry.
“He will bring deep sales and marketing experience and performance delivery discipline, and drive outstanding relationships with the team, customers and industry in this exciting market.
“Over the past eight years, he’s held various managing director roles at Treasury Wine Estates, with increasing scale and complexity.
“He led the transformation of Treasury’s Australia and New Zealand business, where he and his cross-functional team grew flagship wine brands and successfully launched a number of disruptive innovations in the market, as well as significantly improving the supply chain.
“He has built strong relationships with key retailers in the market and held board positions on DrinkWise, Alcohol Beverages Australia and Australian Grape and Wine Inc (formerly the Australian Winemakers Federation).
“In his last position at Treasury he had accountability for the largest business in North America and led the global sales function. He has developed diverse teams and grown talent, including succession from within his team.”
Angus will begin his transition to the role this month, working through a virtual handover plan with David. Once travel restrictions due to COVID-19 are lifted, Angus, his wife and their three daughters will move from Melbourne back to Angus’s home city of Sydney from which he has been away for more than 20 years.
