She will leave at the end of February and will be succeeded by current chief commercial officer, Simon Hunt.
David joined Grants in August 2009 and has overseen the growth of the still family-owned, independent drinks company. The company says that she has decided to focus on building upon her existing portfolio of non-executive directorships.
David has overseen the acquisition of Tullamore DEW Irish whiskey and Drambuie, the scotch whisky liqueur brand, and overseen growth of brands such as Hendrick’s gin and The Balvenie single malt scotch whisky.
Glenn Gordon, William Grant & Sons Chairman, said: “Stella has brought an exceptional level of energy and drive to our business, while significantly enhancing the premiumness of our brands and their appeal to consumers. This has evidenced itself both in the company’s results and the overall progress of the business in terms of the depth of talent we are privileged to have and the amount of passion that is felt all over the company.”
Hunt has been with William Grant & Sons since October 2007, initially as managing director, North America and in April 2013 he was promoted to chief commercial officer. He will take over the role of chief executive on March 1 and Ms David will continue in an advisory capacity until the end of May.
David already holds non-executive positions on the board of C&J Clark Ltd and HomeServe plc and spent seven years as a non-executive director of Nationwide Building Society.
