Local Beam boss to retire

The local chief of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Phil Baldock, is retiring at the end of the year, when he will be succeeded by the company's chief strategy officer.

Baldock, who's been with the company for fourteen years, took the helm as president of Beam's Asia Pacific/South America unit (APSA) in December 2010. He's responsible for Beam Global’s business in Australia, New Zealand and Asia, as well as India and Brazil, and he also serves as the managing director at Beam Global Australia.

His replacement, Nicholas Fink, a native of South Africa, has spent the last seven years in commercial, marketing and legal roles and he was general manager of Beam’s Canada business from 2010 to 2011, before becoming APSA's chief strategy officer last year. Fink and his family will relocate to Sydney in the coming weeks.

“We’ve taken the Beam business a long way in Asia Pacific over the years, always innovating and continuing to build our position in Australia, as well as opening up new frontiers across the region,” said Baldock. “I will leave with great confidence that under Nick’s leadership APSA’s best days lie ahead, and I’ll continue doing my part as a loyal brand fan.”

Matt Shattock, president and chief executive officer of Beam described Baldock as an “inventive strategist whose entrepreneurial and dynamic leadership style has achieved the very best for Beam in our second largest market”.

“He developed our stronghold in Australia, where Jim Beam is the leading spirits brand, and enhanced our routes to market in the region’s developed and emerging markets,” Shattock said.

“Nick Fink is also a gifted and dynamic leader with a unique breadth of experience that makes him the ideal successor to Phil. We have a very strong foundation in APSA, and Nick will work with the excellent commercial and marketing team we have in place to continue building our power brands and winning markets across the segment.”