Onwards and upwards was this year's theme for the Scottish Wholesale Associations Annual Conference and Iain Hill, outgoing president of the SWA was keen to stress that collaboration was the key word, adding how important it is for wholesalers and suppliers to work closer together.

All the leading players in the wholesale channel were represented at the biggest conference in the trade's calendar, the FWD Annual Conference, and this year there was a VIP chairman fresh from being at the heart of a dramatic General Election.

Drinksummit, the annual beer, wines and spirits conference organised by the Federation of Wholesale Distributors, has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 1989 and is now seen as the agenda-setting event in the wholesale channel's drinks calendar.

All of the top players in the wholesale channel will be represented at the biggest conference in the trade's calendar, the FWD Annual Conference at the Forest of Arden Hotel on May 10-11.

Charles Wilson joined Booker for the second time, as chief executive, in November 2005, from Marks & Spencer where he was executive director for property, IT and supply chain.

Chris Etherington joined Palmer and Harvey in June 2006 as chief executive with more than 30 years experience in wholesale and retail distribution, following a position as managing director of the national after-market wholesaler Unipart Automotive.

As communications controller at 3663, Lindsay Winser is responsible for internal and external communications. This places her in a key position to understand the issues facing the industry.

Simon Harrison has been with the same company for 19 years as it developed through takeovers and mergers from Whitbread to AB InBev.

David Glennon, retailer services manager for Nielsen, will provide insights into the way the current FMCG market is responding to economic climate from superstore to local store.

Bill Laird joined the Today's Group as managing director just over a year ago in March 2009.

Chris Doyle joined Landmark Wholesale as its new business development director in January.

Dave Pogson, sales director UK of Cadbury, started his career in the food industry with Schweppes International, developing new products for Japan, after graduating in food science.

Mike Laney joined Imperial Tobacco in 2003 as national account manager in the forecourt sector before becoming head of channel distributive in 2006.

Marcus Vallance is CEO and Steve Collins is commercial director of SalesOut, a company working with wholesalers and foodservice companies to deliver insights into the market based on wholesale shipment data.

As the wholesale community gears up for National Independents' Week, the My Shop is Your Shop (MSYS) campaign which organises it has introduced some changes.