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WSET stalwart Gareth Lawrence passes away

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing – following a long period of poor health – of Gareth Lawrence, with whom I worked for 20 years during my tenure as CEO of WSET, and who was the Wine & Spirit Education Trust’s longest-serving member of staff.

He joined the fledgling WSET as General Administrator in 1978 and started to lecture on the Certificate Course almost immediately, showing a flair for teaching which belied his calm demeanour. Throughout his distinguished WSET career of more than three decades, he taught most of the people who were working in the wine industry – I can certainly remember him covering his favourite subject of South-East and Central Europe at both Certificate and Higher Certificate level when I joined the wine trade in the late 70s.

When I became CEO of WSET in 2002, Gareth was the Senior Lecturer (as we called them in those days), working alongside Michael Buriak and the late Godfrey Spence, at the WSET London School, which at the time was based in Five Kings House in Upper Thames Street. On moving to Bermondsey Street in 2005, Gareth embraced the new WSET Spirits programmes enthusiastically, quickly becoming one of the lead Educators as WSET increased its portfolio of qualifications and expanded its global reach. He was invited to join the Worshipful Company of Distillers and took an active part in their activities.

He was a very private man, and very quiet and unassuming until he was in front of a classroom, or an examination room full of nervous students where he took charge with great authority – many Diploma students will remember his no-nonsense announcement: “EXAMINATION RULES ARE NOW IN FORCE!” as they anxiously turned over their examination papers.

Following his retirement from full-time teaching, Gareth continued to work part-time marking examination scripts, but his health continued to decline, and he died peacefully in hospital on 22 July 2025.

Rest in Peace Gareth.

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• Ian Harris MBE