‘Our transformation continues at pace’

Making Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) a reality has never been more crucial. That’s what our Chief Marketing Officer – now Chief Growth Officer – Kingsley Wheaton, told Arabian Business magazine as he sat down with the Middle East business publication to discuss BAT’s A Better Tomorrow™ transformation.

In the interview , Kingsley stresses how THR is at the core of our strategy.

He said: “Increasingly, governments and policy makers worldwide are taking Tobacco Harm Reduction seriously. Reduced-risk^*† products, such as vaping, tobacco heating products and nicotine pouches, give smokers who do not want to give up smoking an alternative. A route away from cigarettes.”

Kingsley also pointed to how New Category products now count for 12% of BAT’s revenue and that well-thought-through regulation is essential to ensuring that adult consumers “can enjoy reduced-risk^*† products with confidence.”

Kingsley added: “There is substantial evidence to support vaping, tobacco heating, and modern oral products as reduced-risk^*† compared to smoking. It’s really important that all stakeholders work together to develop an appropriate regulatory approach that provides consumers who might otherwise continue to smoke, with the access to, and the confidence to use, these products.”

Our Middle East strategy is touched upon while Kingsley also makes clear how our A Better Tomorrow™ transformation is being driven by technology and R&D.

“Our transformation continues at pace and we are making strong progress towards our purpose to build A Better Tomorrow – and this is just the beginning”, he said. “Our research and development, led by our 1,500 R&D specialists across the world, is creating an exciting pipeline of reduced-risk products^*†.”

Read Kingsley’s interview with Arabian Business magazine in full .