Scotland Food & Drink has appointed John Donnelly as its new membership and commercial director.
Donnelly has held senior roles including CEO of Marketing Edinburgh, commercial director for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, interim head of marketing and commercial at Scottish Rugby Union, and most recently, as a marketing and strategy consultant.
He brings more than 30 years’ experience in marketing and commercial strategy.
Scotland Food & Drink has more than 450 members from across the industry and the country. As part of his role, Donnelly will support the development and delivery of a new membership strategy that will improve members’ experience and create increased opportunities for sustainable growth across member businesses.
He will be responsible for improving the commercial performance of the organisation to the benefit of members, accessing new sponsorship and commercial partnership opportunities to seek increased collaboration within the industry and further afield.
Iain Baxter, chief executive at Scotland Food & Drink, said: “John joins Scotland Food & Drink at a really exciting time for both the organisation and the wider industry. We are improving our offering for our members to maximise the support that we can offer them to drive responsible growth throughout the sector.
“Unlocking new opportunities and improving our commercial engagement with businesses from across the economy will help us to deliver on the objectives set out in our national strategy, ‘Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World’. It’s a privilege to have John, and his many years of experience, on board to help us achieve that.”
