‘Small number’ of jobs to go at Irish Distillers amid reorganisation

Irish Distillers, the spirit-maker behind Jameson, Powers and Midleton Irish whiskey brands, has confirmed a “small number” of jobs will be lost at the company as part of a reorganisation of its wider parent group.

Pernod Ricard, the French drinks giant that owns Irish Distillers, announced plans at the end of August to simplify the group structure, including the replacement of its six-person executive board with a nine-person executive committee. The Paris-listed group is also phasing out its three regional entities – Europe, Middle East and Africa; Latin America; and Asia – regrouping them into 10 separate management entities.

In a statement on Monday evening, Irish Distillers confirmed the reorganisation would result in job losses at the Irish company.

“These changes are in support of a more simplified organisation and clear operating model across all affiliates, including Irish Distillers,” a spokeswoman said. “As part of this process, a very small number of roles were impacted at Irish Distillers.”

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The job cuts come at a time when the company is investing €250 million in the expansion of its Midleton, Co Cork, distillery, including the construction of a new facility on a 22-hectare (55-acre) site adjacent to its current premises. Announcing the expansion last year, Irish Distillers said the expansion would add in the region of 800 construction jobs over three years.

The spokeswoman said the company cannot comment further on the job cuts as it is currently in a consultation process with those impacted.

In a trading update in August, Pernod said Jameson is now a top-three selling international whiskey with sales topping 10.7 million cases last year, a record high, up from 10.4 million cases in the year to the end of June 2022. It is also the second-biggest individual brand by sales within the group, behind only Absolut.

The group’s “prestige” Irish whiskey category, which includes Midleton, Red Breast and the Yellow and Green Spot ranges, also performed strongly, achieving net sales growth of 22 per cent globally amid a boom in Irish whiskey sales across the world.