Industry stalwart Linda Mellis, who spent four decades with drinks giant Diageo before her retirement, has become a Director of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Festival, along with Speyside Cooperage visitor centre manager Gill Reid.
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| Linda Mellis & Gill Reid - New volunteer Directors at the SOSWF |
Linda Mellis, worked for Diageo for forty-three years, and was responsible for managing brand support malt distilling and marketing the distillery visitor centres and brand homes.
Gill Reid, has been the manager of Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre for two years. She has been responsible for raising the bar on the visitor experience by developing a 4D extra-sensory film presentation and mini-cinema on site.
Both women have been responsible for delivering first class visitor experiences in their careers and plan to use their skills and expertise to benefit the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival and its many thousands of guests from home and abroad.
Commenting on the news, James Campbell, Chairman of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, said: “Linda and Gill will be excellent additions to the board due to their vast knowledge of the whisky industry and customer service fields. The Festival aims to marry the opportunity to appreciate and learn more about our local whisky industry with a first-class visitor experience. Both Linda and Gill will be instrumental in helping to guide us as we move forward and grow the Festival in future years.”
He went on to say: “Many of our visitors are quite staggered to learn that the driving force behind the Festival are volunteers who willingly give up their time to help because they feel so passionate about whisky and what the Speyside region has to offer.”
The curtain rises on this year’s Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival on April 28th, signalling the start of five days packed full of whisky, music, food and fun at locations throughout the Speyside region.
Posted by Steve Rush