OBITUARY – CHARLES GORDON

CHARLES GORDON 86 – THE LIFE PRESIDENT of William Grant & Sons has passed away.  Gordon was a key driving force in building William Grant & Sons into a strong independent family-owned company.  The great-grandson of company founder William Grant, Gordon’s achievements include leading the Glenfiddich and Grant’s Scotch whisky brands to global prominence.  Today, Grant’s is the fourth-largest Scotch whisky brand internationally, at 4.5 million cases, while Glenfiddich is the world’s top single malt, at 1 million cases, according to Impact Databank.  Overall, William Grant has posted revenues of above £1 billion (US $1.6 billion) each of the past two years.  His son Glenn, the present Chairman of the company, paid this tribute to his father: “We are all very proud of my father’s achievements in his very full and energetic lifetime, and give thanks for the legacy that he has left us with.  He touched the lives of many, many people and will be sorely missed by all.  In our family and our business, which my father always intertwined, he very much believed in a spirit of partnership.  In his memory, we will continue to build this spirit, and with it our independent family business, for future generations.”