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Diageo on Tuesday appointed Chief Working Officer (COO) Debra Crew as CEO to switch retiring long-time boss Ivan Menezes, changing into one among solely a handful of ladies to guide an organization in Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index.

The world’s greatest spirits firm, which makes Johnnie Walker whisky, Tanqueray gin and Don Julio tequila, mentioned Crew, 52, would take up her new function on July 1, bringing the whole of feminine CEO of FTSE 100 members to 10.

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An business veteran who grew to become COO final yr, Crew had been president of Diageo North America, its largest market, and International Provide from 2020. Her elevation comes as Diageo is making an attempt to cement its dominance in the USA and set up a number of premium manufacturers, in a post-COVID world through which persons are going out once more and making fewer cocktails at house.

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The previous U.S. navy intelligence officer was beforehand CEO of tobacco firm Reynolds American, the place she had additionally served as COO. Previous to that Crew held roles at Pepsico, Kraft Meals, Nestle and Mars.

“Crew was the most probably CEO successor, so no shock there,” mentioned Tineke Frikkee, a fund supervisor at Diageo investor Waverton Asset Administration. “She may be very skilled in Diageo’s largest market, the U.S.”

“The timing of succession is at all times tough to foretell however with Ivan Menezes aged 63, it was imminent. I anticipate Diageo technique to stay unchanged,” Frikkee added.

Menezes, who joined Diageo after its formation by way of the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997, grew gross sales sharply and steered the corporate by way of a number of model acquisitions in addition to a serious sustainability overhaul.

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Beneath his management the corporate turn out to be accountable for a couple of tenth – or 2 billion kilos ($2.5 billion) – of the UK’s complete meals and drinks exports.

Shares in Diageo had been down marginally on Tuesday morning. They’ve risen about 76% over the previous decade, outperforming the pan-European STOXX 600 index and London’s blue-chip FTSE 100

“This had been broadly anticipated. Nonetheless, we regard Ivan’s departure as a significant loss for Diageo – he’s been an excellent CEO,” RBC analyst James Edward Jones mentioned. “Diageo was in poor form when Ivan took over; now it’s one of the crucial spectacular corporations we cowl.”

“Debra Crew is one thing of an unknown amount to us. She’s acquired an in depth background in client staples … nonetheless, Ivan shall be a really laborious act to observe.”

Laurence Whyatt, analyst at Barclays, mentioned: “The market desires extra of the identical. Diageo has outperformed in tequila, has glorious advertising capabilities and is making large inroads into Scotch globally, and notably in India and LatAm.

“I need to see a continuation of this long-term pondering – laying down extra stock for future premiumisation and continued funding in digital advertising to make sure they keep forward.”

($1 = 0.8118 kilos)

(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Richa Naidu in London; Enhancing by Jason Neely and David Holmes)