Case studies: Business development executive: Steven McConnachie

In 2007, Steven graduated from Robert Gordon University with an honours degree in management with retail. He decided to apply for a position with Whyte & Mackay as a business development executive as he felt it was a step in the right direction.

My role as business development manager means taking control of the North East of Scotland, promoting and selling the company’s brands. This appealed to me as it allowed me to be creative and essentially my own boss.

The training has been varied. There has been some in-house training at Whyte and Mackay headquarters in Glasgow, mainly at the beginning. There has been some whisky tasting training with the master blender. Most of the job has been through individual development and progression.

My time at university provided me with the basic business functions, which gave me a platform to then progress and enhance those skills in the relevant trade. My role is to sell and promote brands such as Whyte & Mackay, Vladivar, Glayva, Jura and Dalmore. As well as dealing with hotels, bars, restaurants, etc, I also deal with some retail accounts, provide product training and whisky masterclasses.

My plans currently are to continue my good work and to try to push for promotion by the start of the year. From there, I will assess what positions are available to me in the future.

My degree gave me a fantastic grounding for the world of work and is very practical and relevant. I would say get stuck in with the course, enjoy it while it lasts as four years is not that long. On top of that, have a balanced life and also enjoy the social side.