A woman who helped a major drinks company set up its first distillery in Moray in more than 30 years will now turn her expertise to the region’s annual whisky festival.
Laura Sharp was part of the project team behind Diageo’s £40m Roseisle distillery, and is one of three new directors to take seats on the Spirit of Speyside board in the past month.
She is joined by Robert Ince, general manager of the Macallan Estate, and Justin Livesey, who heads up the visitor centre team at Glenfiddich.
Spirit of Speyside whisky festival chairman James Campbell said he was delighted to welcome the new board members, who will work alongside the five existing voluntary directors to “help grow and build” the festival, which will run from April 30 to May 4 next year.
He said: “We are honoured that professionals of such a high calibre have joined the board. They are all very busy in their day jobs, so we really do appreciate and value the time that they are going to commit to delivering the festival.
“The three new directors each have very different backgrounds, and we are very much looking forward to harnessing that knowledge to help grow and build the festival, and raise the bar even higher on the visitor experience.”
Ms Sharp is now the brand home manager for Cardhu and Cragganmore distillery visitor centres and has worked with Diageo for 18 years, starting out at Drummuir Castle before joining the heritage visits team.
During the construction of Roseisle distillery, she provided support to the project director and helped to oversee the official opening of the venture.
Since joining Cardhu she has become heavily involved with the Malt Whisky Trail and has increased the number of events that will be staged there as part of Spirit of Speyside.
Tickets for the 2015 whisky festival go on sale on February 3. The full programme for the event, will be revealed on January 29.