Woolworths Group is strengthening its drinks arm ahead of a proposed divestment from the group in 2020, with one of its experienced supermarket leaders appointed to lead BWS.

Scott Davidson will take up the position of managing director of the liquor retail chain in January 2020, after two years as general manager of buying and merchandise at Countdown Supermarkets.

Davidson’s career with Woolworths Group spans almost 15 years, with experience in merchandising across fresh food, grocery food and liquor.

His appointment comes ahead of an extraordinary general meeting on December 16, in which shareholders will be asked to consider stage one of the proposal to merge and separate Woolworths’ drinks and hospitality businesses as Endeavour Group.

Endeavour Drinks has been actively searching for a new leader for BWS since Woolworths Group confirmed the appointment of Guy Brent as managing director of FoodCo and Metro in July this year.

Davidson will focus on driving ultra-convenience and customer-first ranging and renewals across the 1300+ store network.

Steve Donohue, managing director of Endeavour Drinks said Davidson is
well known in the business for being “an authentic leader who enables his teams to achieve outstanding results” and said he looks forward to the contribution he will make.

“The team at BWS has worked hard to set new standards in convenience and service to meet changing customer needs over recent years,” Donohue said.

“We’re delighted to have a leader of Scott’s calibre join BWS to help us continue raising the bar for our customers.”

Last month, Endeavour Drinks acquired leading McLaren Vale winery Chapel Hill from Swiss corporation Permafix, prompting the creation of a new wine division as part of Endeavour’s Pinnacle Drinks business.

This story first appeared on sister site Inside FMCG.