Umbrella trade association World Spirits Alliance has followed last month’s departure of its CEO with news of the appointment of an alcohol industry veteran as their replacement.
At the end of July, the Geneva-based organisation confirmed that Helen Medina had stepped down after two years as CEO. Today (18 August), David Williamson, currently corporate affairs director at William Grant & Sons, has been confirmed to assume the lead in November.
Prior to joining the scotch whisky specialist in late 2018, initially as head of corporate affairs before moving up to director level in mid-2021, Williamson spent 20 years (1998 to 2018) with the Scotch Whisky Association. He rounded out his two decades with the organisation with four years as its director of public affairs & communication.
“David takes on this role at a vital moment,” said WSA chair & Pernod Ricard international public affairs director Darya Galperina. “The foundations of the alliance are strong, but our sector’s expectations continue to grow.
“Having worked both within leading spirits companies and industry associations, he brings a unique combination of strategic leadership, advocacy experience and deep knowledge of the global spirits sector. The board has full confidence in his ability to build on the alliance’s achievements and further strengthen our global impact.”
In an exclusive interview with Global Drinks Intel earlier this year, Medina explained that the WSA had been around “as a loose alliance for around 20 years”.
“In about 2019, the arrangement was formalised as a trade association in Belgium that was run through SpiritsEurope, which coordinated the national trade associations and the member companies involved,” Medina said. “I was hired to be the WSA’s first formal CEO in 2024. One of my first tasks was to make the WSA a Geneva-based organisation.”
