Belvédère proposes company name change

French drinks group Belvédère has proposed changing its name to Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits as the “final step” in the group’s “normalisation plan”.

Belvédère has proposed changing its company name to Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits

The firm, maker of Marie Brizard liqueurs and William Peel Scotch whisky, will ask shareholders to approve the name change at a meeting on 30 June.

Belvédère said the new title would illustrates “what the group is today” and a “clear mission in line with Marie Brizard brand’s DNA”.

The name would also demonstrate that Belvédère is a “multi-region and multi-category wine and spirits group”.

It was proposed as part of the group’s “ambitious” new strategic plan that was implemented following a 4.1% sales decline in 2014, impacted by tax hikes in Poland.

“The planned change in the group’s name is the final step in the normalisation plan that we launched a year ago, and it is of course quite right that our shareholders should have their say in this matter,” said Jean-Noël Reynaud, CEO of Belvédère.

At the same time as revealing the proposed name change, Belvédère announced its 2014 accounts had been approved, with “tighter internal and operational control”.

The group recently recorded 4.4% sales growth in the first quarter of 2015, however revealed that 500 people had been cut from its global workforce.

As part of its strategic plan, Belvédère is offloading some of its “loss making” operational assets, selling its Polish retail business Galeria Alkoholi for an undisclosed sum earlier this week.