JW Filshill, one of Scotland’s oldest and most respected independent food and drink wholesalers, has bolstered its sales team with the appointment of Estelle Balfour as regional development manager.
Balfour, 25, will initially service the KeyStore estate in Ayrshire, Stranraer and Dumfries areas, reporting to sales manager Shirley Ruane who heads up the west of Scotland and northern England territories for Filshill, which relocated to a purpose-built 120,400 sqft distribution centre at Westway, near Glasgow Airport, in March 2023.
A graduate from the University of Strathclyde with a BA Honours in Marketing, Balfour joins the award-winning wholesaler with two years’ experience in marketing and sales in FMCG, collaborating with several retailers and convenience stores in the multiple retail channel, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
Balfour, who lives in Stewarton, Ayrshire, was most recently a regional sales executive with confectionery firm Ferrero Rocher and is keen to develop her career in the convenience sector and the wider food and drink arena.
Craig Brown, chief sales and marketing officer at JW Filshill, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Estelle to the Filshill family as we celebrate our 150th anniversary.
“She is eager to continue her journey in the food and drink sector and further develop her skill set. Estelle has demonstrated great passion about our culture and values the development opportunities that Filshill offers, and we look forward to watching her continue this next stage of her career with confidence, supported by her new colleagues and working closely with ambitious, results-driven KeyStore retailers.”
Pointing to building relationships with retailers, Balfour commented: “I’ve always been interested in FMCG and did a module on it when I was at university – I also worked in Tesco as a student and my interest in retail grew from there. Much of my role at Ferrero was about building relationships and that is embedded in the culture at Filshill and KeyStore.”
In her spare time, Balfour is a fan of West End musicals and also enjoys travelling across Scotland – her ambition is to visit all of the country’s inhabited islands.”
To mark its 150th anniversary in 2025, Filshill has embarked on a raft of activity based around the theme Delivering Success that champions sustainability, innovation, community, and wellbeing. The wholesaler also aims to raise £150,000 for six charities which represent large demographics of the communities they serve as part of the anniversary celebrations: CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland); Dementia Scotland; Cancer Research UK; MND Scotland; SSPCA (Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals); and GroceryAid.
As part of its community fundraising efforts, 150 Filshill directors, colleagues, customers, suppliers and family members will take part in the Kiltwalk, Scotland’s largest mass participation walking event with over 178,000 people taking part since 2016. On 27th April in Glasgow, the company’s involvement will represent the Kiltwalk’s largest-ever corporate attendance.
