Ex-Bellamy's boss Laura McBain joins board of boutique brand Lark

Former Bellamy’s Australia boss Laura McBain has popped up as a director at ASX-listed Lark Distilling, where she has met up with old Tasmanian connections such as businessman Bruce Neill, who was also a major backer of the infant formula company.

Ms McBain is the first female director and first external board appointment since a major board brawl last year at Lark that resulted in a clear-out, including founder Bill Lark and the acting chief executive resigning.

Mr Lark, known as the godfather of Australian whisky, since has returned to the business as a brand ambassador.

Ms McBain told AFR Weekend that she believed the ‘‘ship is now steadied’’ from last year’s mess. She said she was happy to join a Tasmanian-based company where she could now spend more time with her family.

‘‘I felt like I had also been away from home for 17 years,’’ she said, speaking for the first time since leaving her previous role as chief executive of South Australia’s gourmet food group Longtable.

‘‘I needed to spend time back with my kids, who had been left behind in that process so I decided to take a step back and leave it [Longtable] in good hands.’’

Ms McBain, who lives in Launceston, in December left ASX-listed Longtable, which owns Maggie Beer Products, after two years in the job. She exited as chief executive of Bellamy’s in 2017 after the company almost collapsed.

She acknowledged Longtable’s purchase of premium dairy business Paris Creek Farms did not go to plan, ‘‘taking longer to deliver on than we expected’’. In February, Longtable took a $12 million impairment charge on the struggling business. However, Ms McBain was confident about its future, saying it had ‘‘big potential’’ given its organic certification and Certification and Accreditation Administration registration for importing into China.

She said she was attracted to smaller companies where she could make a difference, but was happy sticking with non-executive roles for now. She remains on the board of credit agency, Export Finance Australia.

‘‘I’ve got some consulting work in food and also been helping a friend in an up-and-coming band and doing some marketing work for her,’’ she said. ‘‘I’m not ruling anything out but for now I’m looking at non-executive roles.’’

Ms McBain said it was important for the Lark board to get a ‘‘Tasmanian on the team’’. Given its Hobart location, it suited her to join the whisky producer, which formally changed its name last month from Australian Whisky Holdings.

Lark is now chaired by former Treasury Wine Estates boss David Dearie. Chief executive is Geoff Bainbridge, who was co-founder of hamburger chain Grill’d.

They have grand plans to turn Lark into the Penfolds of Australian whisky by embracing the 28-year heritage as the nation’s first craft whisky and leverage its brand with Asian consumers. In the first half of 2020, Lark said its loss narrowed to $743,321 from the year-earlier shortfall of $1.5 million, while sales jumped 35.5 per cent to $3.8 million.

The global whisky market is big business, with consumption sitting at about 95.3 million litres a year and valued at $US58 billion ($87 billion).

Lark recently noted COVID-19 restrictions had hit on-premise sales but that was offset partly by a big increase in home consumption of alcohol.

Ms McBain’s first event is on Monday, opening the still to produce sanitiser for Tasmanian government departments and pharmacies. Lark pivoted towards making sanitiser in the pandemic.

Mr Neill, a Tasmanian businessman and racehorse owner, is Lark’s biggest shareholder, controlling 13 per cent. His company, Quality Life, also held his major Bellamy’s stake. He was key in last May’s ousting of the Lark board.

Other major shareholders include Hong Kong-based investor, Ace Cosmo Developments, and Hillhouse Capital Management, chaired by billionaire Lei Zhang.

Hillhouse is Lark's fourth-biggest shareholder and at one point was on the Bellamy's register too. It is also an investor in Zoom Video Communications, a superstar stock amid the virus lockdowns.