Halewood Wines & Spirits Update
Delight and by JAS RYAT
INSPIRE EAMON PRUNTY, HEAD OF GLOBAL TRAVEL RETAIL HALEWOOD WINES & SPIRITS, SHARES HIS VISION TO ADAPT AND SUCCEED IN THESE CHANGING TIMES
Eamon Prunty
E
amon Prunty, Head of Global Travel Retail Halewood Wines & Spirits, brings over 30 years of spirits industry experience to his current role. Originally joining Guinness Great Britain before he was even of legal drinking age, Prunty eventually moved on to Diageo as part of the merger. He spent the majority of his time there in the UK domestic market, with the last five years in the travel retail business. “I joined Halewood in December 2016 to manage the European Export Business,” explains Prunty. “In January 2019 I took over responsibility for Halewood’s European travel retail business, and this April I was appointed to head up the travel retail business globally. I am based in London, although in a ‘normal world’ I would be traveling for the majority of the working week.” He reports directly to the Halewood Group CEO and is responsible for travel retail & duty free business globally, across all Global Travel Retail (GTR) channels. Although Halewood’s business has undoubtedly been affected by the pan-
36 AUGUST 2020
demic, Prunty believes there is light at the end of the tunnel. With markets beginning to reopen, airlines offering more flights and airport retailers cautiously reopening, “the worst of the crisis is over and business will start to pick up in GTR, albeit in baby steps,” says Prunty.
Home turf advantage
Halewood’s reign in UK’s domestic market has helped to keep the brand resilient throughout the pandemic. Although the company’s export business has been hit hard, since the overseas markets shut down completely, the UK online platform has been extremely strong, performing at record highs through the crisis. Tough business decisions have unfortunately led to a corporate restructure, this decision deemed necessary to meet the challenges post Covid-19. Prunty notes that at this point it is virtually impossible to predict the challenges Halewood will face as the skies and borders reopen. “GTR pre-Covid was about touch and feel, sampling goods; a lot of this simply cannot happen in the same way in a post-pandemic world. Brand owners and retailers will have to work together to innovate in this area, using online platforms and other digital means to tailor our offer to the consumer’s new shopping habits,” he says. He continues, “For the rest of 2020, we will endeavour to build on the great foundations we have established in GTR over the last three years, working with all
our partners, adapting our forward plans, executing them with vigour and pace, and thereby securing the best results possible for all our businesses.”
Winning streak
Halewood will continue to focus on travel retail business within key markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas as innovation across its portfolio of handcrafted gins and premium artisanal spirits continues to inspire the consumer. Through a combination of creative brand promotion and strict hygiene standards when sampling at airport activations, the company will continue to showcase its diverse brands. Within Halewood’s award-winning portfolio, Dead Man’s Fingers spiced rum recently won awards at the Spirits Business Rum & Cachaça Masters 2020, and Mary-le-bone Orange & Geranium Gin has been voted the World’s Best Flavoured Gin at the World Gin Awards 2020. “We were delighted to receive these awards for Dead Man’s Fingers and Maryle-bone gin. Winning these prestigious awards, with their globally respected tasting panels, demonstrates just how important the focus on quality is to us as a distilling company. These awards enable us to fully promote our ranges to new distribution partners and customers around the world using a variety of means: digital and social media, on-shelf and through the education of key influencers,” concludes Prunty.
