Guinness’ worldwide brands boss quits to set up drinks consultancy

Kim Slater, strategic brands director at Guinness Brewing Worldwide, is leaving the company after 14 years to set up a drinks consultancy called Faraday.

Slater is joining forces with Peter Lousada, former commercial director for Schweppes Beverages Worldwide, and two worldwide drinks consultants – Dominic Moseley and Richard Movis.

The new company will give strategic advice on branding issues in the alcoholic and soft drinks markets, and will offer clients industry data, thanks to an affiliation with UK beverage data company Canadean.

Slater joined Guinness as head of the new product development team, working on Draught Guinness, Kaliber and Kilkenny. He spent a year in the US with Guinness, worked with the brewer’s Spanish company Cruz Campo and, while in the post of marketing director of the Americas region, he was closely involved in the acquisition of the Jamaican-based brewer Desnoes & Geddes, manufacturer of Red Stripe lager.

Prior to joining GBW, Slater worked at Schweppes and Procter & Gamble. He leaves the company at the end of November.

GBW has appointed Michael Harvey, formerly with branding and design consultancy Springpoint, to the new post of consumer planning director. He will recruit and lead a new central consumer research team, which will work with similar teams in GBW’s six geographical regions and in its local markets within those regions.