Latest posts by Martin Moodie (see all)
At TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes yesterday, Brown-Forman hosted a short gathering to honour the memory of one of their (and the industry’s) finest executive, Patrick Moran (above), who passed away in May.
Patrick held a series of senior positions in duty free and travel retail over three decades, including periods with DFS Group, Courvoisier, Bacardi, Brown-Forman and consultancies for a number of other companies, including World Duty Free (when it was being set up) and Sky Connection. He was (along with BAA’s Brian Collie and Aer Rianta International-Middle East’s John Sutcliffe) one of the three authors of the acclaimed White Paper to emerge from the first Trinity Forum in 2002.
Brown-Forman Global Travel Retail Vice President and Managing Director Jim Perry (above) paid a moving tribute to Patrick and welcomed his widow Patricia Moran, who said she was overwhelmed by the way her late husband had been loved by the industry.
In May, The Moodie Report wrote a tribute to Patrick, to which many industry executives add their own messages and memories. Patricia yesterday told me how those thoughts had helped her and sons Patrick and Nicolas in the grieving process. Today she wrote to me and asked me to pass on the following message to the industry: “I was so happy to meet with you tonight and commemorate Patrick. May I take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful article you wrote in the Moodie Report about him.
“Also could you please convey my deep and very sincere gratitude to all the people who wrote such moving tributes in reply to your article. These great contributions meant a lot to my sons and myself and provided much comfort at a difficult time. You know how much Patrick loved travel retail. He would have been very touched by so many signs of affection. With my very best wishes to you, your team and TFWA.”
[Jim Perry, Patricia Moran and Martin Moodie]