After more than five and a half years working in spiritsEUROPE, Friday 22 September will be my last day as Director General. What a great pleasure and honour it has been for me! I have been privileged to work with a fantastic group of people – from my wonderful spiritsEUROPE colleagues, to our great members, and to the much broader set of committed and forthright stakeholders with whom we work on a daily basis.
I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to work in a sector that takes its responsibilities very seriously, but which also knows how to enjoy life. The five years have been a blast!
On Monday, I will start with PepsiCo as their Senior Director, Public Policy Government Affairs and Communications, still based in Brussels. I am excited by the opportunity of working with such a global company that has such deep European roots: over the last five years, PepsiCo has invested more than €690 million in the EU; employs more than 17,500 people in the EU; and operates 38 manufacturing sites and 17 large distribution centres across the continent.
In due course, the Board will announce my successor. I wish her or him the same pleasure from the position that I have enjoyed. Thank you very much!
Paul Skehan