A lawyer and former Progressive Labour Party Senate leader has been appointed to head of the Liquor Licensing Authority.

Marc Daniels, the new chairman of the LLA, said the work of the board was “hugely important for the collective wellbeing” of Bermuda.

He added: “We all appreciate the overarching balance that must be struck between ensuring the safety of the members within our society and the need to encourage economic activity and provide platforms for economic growth for existing business and new entrepreneurs.”

Kendaree Burgess, the chief executive of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, will act as deputy chairwoman of the authority.

Mr Daniels said Ms Burgess’s “vast experience ... has already proven invaluable”.

He was speaking after the new line-up for the authority was announced in the Official Gazette earlier this month.

The appointments were made by Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs.

The other five appointments were Clyde Darrell, the former general manager at Grotto Bay Beach Resort and Spa; Tanya Esdaille; Christopher Famous, a PLP backbencher; Anthony Santucci, the chairman of anti-substance abuse charity Cada; and Kevin Smith, of GET Security.

Ms Esdaille and Mr Famous have served on the board before.

Mr Daniels, who also sits on the board of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, said the pair had “been instrumental in ensuring that we all understand the process involved in a short time”.

He added that the group was in the process of making sure that applications approved earlier by the LLA were “circulated to the necessary entities and individuals”.

Mr Daniels said: “Our administrator, Kenneth Scott, has worked diligently to respond to all queries that we are receiving and commence the requisite action and follow through to reduce the impact to our local businesses and cause as little disruption as possible overall, which often happens with such transitions.”

He added that the authority was also focused on applications that must be considered before the end of the month.

Mr Daniels said: “Once we have ensured that all pending applications have been properly considered and or adjudicated, we will focus our attention on obtaining as much feedback from within the industry and all stakeholders and provide additional recommendations to the minister that will assist to progress the current state of the law, while upholding our mandate.”

Ms Simmons announced this month that a single authority would be created.

She said at the time: “This replaces the predominantly geographical focus of the previous three licensing authorities with three members for each of the three districts, plus a predetermined chair.”

Ms Simmons added the members would represent sectors such as the law, security, drug treatment, social work, hospitality and retail.