British American Tobacco’s new boss today made the first major step towards reshaping the company in his image as he unveiled a major c-suite shake-up.
Tadeu Marroco, who joined BAT’s board in mid-May, created a host of new board positions, including chief operating officer, chief strategy & growth officer, and director of business development in an overhaul described as creating “a sharpened focus on improved execution and operational excellence.”
The roles will replace the previous board titles of chief transformation officer, chief growth officer and ‘new categories’ director.
Tadeu Marroco said: “This refreshed Management Board structure is critical to my commitment to build a progressive and agile organisation with a collaborative and inclusive culture, enabling simultaneous performance and transformation.”
Marroco first joined BAT, the maker of Dunhill, Pall Mall and Lucky Strike cigarettes in 1992 and was promoted to the firm’s management board in 2014 before becoming finance director in 2019. Upon becoming CEO he was awarded a base salary of over £1.3 million.
In a swipe at outgoing CEO Jack Bowles, he said earlier in June: “There are operational issues that will have my focus. Our performance in U.S. combustibles has been disappointing. Returning combustibles to consistent value creation is critical to our multi-category strategy.”
The board shake-up, which also includes a new director of compliance and regulatory affairs, comes just weeks after the tobacco giant was fined over £500 million by the US authorities for breaching sanctions rules after its subsidiary admitted to selling cigarettes in North Korea, in the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the US Department of Justice.
Marroco said: “I have made it clear to my senior management team and the organisation that we must operate to the highest ethical standards, and this topic must remain a priority for both our employees and business partners.”
