PLB appoints two new brand managers

Adam Wyartt has been recruited to supervise the company's Italian, Iberian and US portfolios while Paul Shelton has been promoted internally to look after brands and agencies from South Africa, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

Wyartt joins PLB from Grappa and Ghemme DOCG producer Francoli Distillers where he held the Piedmont-based position of export manager for two years, overseeing a portfolio with an annual turnover of 850,000. Prior to this he worked as marketing and sales director at the on-trade focused CLASS Magazine and as brand development manager at InSpirit Brands.

Shelton has been at PLB since 2002, where he has held a variety of marketing-based roles and worked across the company's multiple grocer accounts. He was involved in the launch of Chileno five years ago (now a Top 50 supermarket brand), has been instrumental in Piccini becoming the UK's number one Chianti, and helped generate a growth of 117% for the South African Spier brand.

"Creating these brand manager positions was the next logical step in the on-going development of our marketing function," comments PLB's managing director Peter Darbyshire. "The fact that Adam and Paul are bringing complementary skills and knowledge to their roles means they are also the ideal candidates to champion our work in the on and off-trades respectively."