Former Distillers chairman John Connell dies

John Connell, former chairman of the Distillers Company known as the “gin man”, has died at the age of 89.

John Connell, former chairman of the Distillers Company, has died at the age of 89

Connell became chairman of Distillers in 1983, before it was acquired by Guinness in 1986, which later merged with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to create the world’s biggest spirits producer, Diageo.

He followed in the footsteps of his father, also called John, who had begun his career as a whisky merchant in Belfast, and was managing director of Tanqueray Gordon when it became part of Distillers.

Connell himself joined Tanqueray in 1946 and worked his way up from the warehouse to overseas sales representative.

In 1962, he became managing director of the gin brand and three years later joined the board of Distillers with responsibility for the group’s white spirits.

The Distillers Company itself was founded in 1877 with the merger of John Haig & Co with five other distilleries, later including John Walker and Buchanan-Dewar and Tanqueray Gordon, forming brands which lead Diageo’s spirits portfolio today.

When Connell joined Distillers, the company’s reputation was suffering as a result of its part of the Thalidomide tragedy.

The company distributed the dangerous morning sickness drug which caused thousands of babies to be born with severe physical disabilities, for a period of time in the 1950s and 1960s.

Distillers was acquired by Guinness in 1986 for £2.7 billion which was controversial due to its backing of an illegal “share support scheme”, for which two executives were criminally convicted.

John Connell was later made president of Distillers but retired in the same year. He is survived by his wife Jean and their two sons.