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The executive credited with steering Tesco out of the worst financial crisis in its history has been handed the top job at the struggling Guinness maker Diageo.
On 1 January, Dave Lewis will become chief executive of the FTSE 100 drinks company, whose shares have fallen by a third this year.
Lewis ran Tesco from 2014 to 2020 and previously spent nearly three decades at Marmite owner Unilever. He revived Britain’s biggest supermarket after revealing an accounting scandal, which threatened the future of the business.
His appointment marks a significant coup for the drinks maker, which also owns the Johnnie Walker whisky brand. He replaces Debra Crew, a former captain in US military intelligence who stepped down as the Diageo chief in July after a rocky tenure, with investors unhappy about the company’s lacklustre performance.
Nik Jhangiani, the former chief financial officer who had been tipped as a frontrunner for the permanent job, will continue to lead the business on an interim basis until the end of the year, and then return to his CFO role.
A shock profits warning in 2023 followed a post-Covid rebound in alcohol consumption. Since then, Diageo has struggled against global consumer headwinds and, in February, dropped its long-term sales target.
It has struggled with supply chain issues, misjudging waning demand in Latin America and leaving it overstocked while UK pubs had to ration Guinness in the run-up to last Christmas, just as festive demand increased.
The company has also been hit by Donald Trump’s US trade tariffs and last week issued a profit warning, saying it expected 2026 sales to be flat or slightly lower.
Lewis has chaired Haleon since the consumer health business was spun off by GSK in 2022, and said on Monday he would quit this role on 31 December.
When Lewis took the helm of Tesco, the supermarket giant was in crisis. It had a mountain of debt after years of empire building under former leader Sir Terry Leahy, and discovered a gaping black hole in its accounts.
During a five-year turnaround, he went back to basics, focused on how Tesco’s prices and products compared with rivals such as Aldi and Lidl, halved the £22bn debt pile and slashed costs, closing unprofitable divisions such as electricals.
Sir John Manzoni, Diageo’s chair, who led the succession process on behalf of the board, said: “Having conducted an extensive and thorough global search, the board unanimously felt that Dave has both the extensive CEO experience, and the proven leadership skills in building and marketing world-leading brands, that is right for Diageo at this time.”
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He said Lewis would take Diageo into its “next successful chapter in the evolving consumer environment”.
Lewis said: “Diageo is a world-leading business with a portfolio of very strong brands, and I am delighted to be joining the team. The market faces some headwinds but there are also significant opportunities.”
Separately, Haleon said it had promoted Vindi Banga, senior independent director on its board, to chair and succeed Lewis next year. Banga – who worked with Lewis at Unilever – also chairs UK Government Investments Limited and has sat on the boards of GSK and Marks & Spencer.
He is a partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a US private equity firm that acquired Morrisons in 2021 in a £7bn deal. He joined the firm in 2010 after a 33-year career at Unilever.
