Steve Young has been appointed by the group to be the business unit director for the UK & Ireland. The recruitment marks the removal of the MD role for the combined markets that had been held by Vladimir Kazimirov since May 2020. Details about the reason for the change were not immediately available.
Young’s time in the beverage alcohol industry started in 1997 with Interbrew, the forebearer of Anheuser-Busch InBev, where he spent five years with the brewer’s UK division, followed by eight years with Heineken, again in the UK. He joined Bacardi ten years ago, having spent three years with Starbucks. In May last year, he became the commercial director for Western Europe and commences in his new role this month.
Young will report in to Amanda Almond, who assumes the newly-created position of MD for Northern Europe at the same time. Almond’s is another internal appointment, moving from MD of Iberia & Greece for the brand owner. She was MD of UK & Ireland prior to Kazimirov, from 2014 to 2020.
Almond will report to Bacardi’s regional president for Europe, Latin America & Caribbean, Ignacio Del Valle.
“In the four years I’ve been away from the UK, the industry has changed more than anyone could imagine,” she said. “What’s not changed is the value of our portfolio. We have premium brands that consumers … continue to demand however challenging the economic climate. And the premiumisation trend is not slowing down, which is only good news for our portfolio … .”
Earlier this month, the privately-owned group confirmed another senior executive change, this time in North America, where Jeff Branson became the regional commercial MD.
