Heineken UK appoints new on-trade sales director

By Rebecca Weller

- Last updated on GMT

Energy and passion: Will Rice (pictured) appointed as Heineken UK on-trade sales director
Energy and passion: Will Rice (pictured) appointed as Heineken UK on-trade sales director

Related tags Pubco + head office Heineken uk Finance

Heineken UK has appointed a new on-trade sales director following the departure of Stephen Watt.

Will Rice will take over the role after acting as interim on-trade sales director for the past five months.

Heineken UK managing director Boudewijn Haarsma said: “I’m pleased to welcome Will officially to the management team.

Breadth of knowledge 

“His long tenure with Heineken across many aspects of our business brings a huge breadth of knowledge and leadership experience, which together with his energy and passion for the industry, means he is best placed to lead the on-trade team.”

Rice has been with Heineken since 2013, working in a number of roles across the company’s on-trade, off-trade and Star Pubs & Bars divisions.

In his new appointment, Rice will be responsible for growing the on-trade together with customers, and the continued growth of eazle, the company’s new B2B platform. 

“It’s a privilege to lead our on-trade business. Growing in partnership with our customers’ businesses and ensuring our customer experience continues to excel, are key. 

Drive growth 

“Additionally, I’m really excited about helping to build my exceptional team’s skills and capabilities and continuing to drive their growth”, Rice said.

Earlier this year, Heineken UK invested £25m into installing heat pumps​ at its Manchester brewery in a bid to reduce carbon emissions.

According to Heineken, the investment is part of its plan to reach net zero carbon emissions across scopes one and two by 2030 for its UK production sites in Hereford, Manchester and Tadcaster and across its full value chain – scope three – by 2040.

Regarding the investment, Haarsma said: “We’ve been around for 150 years and if we want to be here in another 150 years, we need to act now to deliver on our sustainability ambitions. In short, we want to brew a better world.”

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