BAT restructures to focus on 'next generation' tobacco products

British American Tobacco updated the market on its management structure on Thursday following the completion of the acquisition of Reynolds American.

The FTSE 200 firm had previously announced the addition of Debra Crew as president and CEO of Reynolds American from the end of July, and was now confirming that Jack Bowles - currently regional director of the Asia Pacific region, would be appointed to the newly-created role of chief operating officer for the international, non-US business.

Bowles would be reporting directly to chief executive Nicandro Durante, as Crew does, and would take his post from 1 October.

He initially joined the group in 2004, and had been a member of the management board since October 2009.

“We have decided to simplify our regional structure and to fully integrate our ‘Next Generation Products’ business into the core operations of the group - reflecting the outstanding growth of this part of our business to date and its long term importance to the group's future,” the board explained in its statement.

At the same time, British American said it was simplifying its regional organisation structure to create three new regions.

Those regions would be the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa, including east and central, west and southern Africa; Europe and North Africa, including Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, central Asia, Belarus and Turkey; and a region encompassing Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Regional director responsibilities, reporting directly to the new chief operating officer and continuing as members of the management board, were also being reorganised with effect from 1 January.

Ricardo Oberlander, regional director for the Americas, would be appointed regional director for the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Oberlander joined the BAT Group in 1989 and had been a member of the management board since January 2013.

Tadeu Marroco, regional director for Western Europe, would be appointed regional director for Europe and North Africa.

Marroco joined British American Tobacco in Brazil more than 20 years ago, and had been a member of the management board since September 2014.

Johan Vandermeulen, currently regional director for the EEMEA region, would be appointed regional director for Asia Pacific and Middle East.

Vandermeulen had been with the BAT Group for more than 20 years and joined the management board in September 2014.

“Now that we have built a successful ‘Next Generation Products’ (NGP) business which is poised for substantial growth, we will be fully integrating NGP into our existing business infrastructure across the group - both within the functions and the regions - to leverage the scale and expertise of the whole group to drive growth in an area that is fast becoming a key part of our mainstream business,” the board added in its statement.

“Kingsley Wheaton, managing director for Next Generation Products, will manage this integration process.”

Additionally, Andrew Gray, currently the director of marketing, would be appointed chief marketing officer, reporting directly to the chief executive, with effect from 1 October.

“This expanded role combines the areas of marketing and research and development across all categories - [both] combustible cigarettes and NGPs,” the board said.

Gray had been with the BAT Group for 31 years and had been a member of the management board for more than nine years.

David O'Reilly, currently group scientific and R&D director, would remain a member of the management board, and would report to the chief marketing officer under the new structure.

“This new structure will enable better, more integrated resource allocation and decision making across geographies and categories,” British American Tobacco said.

“It creates a truly global multi category business, with NGPs embedded at its heart, to drive continued long term success.”