Welcoming Véronique Laury to our Main Board

Véronique has joined as an independent Non-Executive Director and member of the Nominations and Audit Committees.

French native Véronique worked for more than 15 years at home improvement retailer Kingfisher plc, where she held several leadership roles including, most recently, Group CEO between 2014 and 2019. She had previously held the roles of CEO and Group Commercial Strategy Director of Castorama France, part of the Kingfisher group.

Véronique is also a Non-Executive Director of WeWork, Tarkett, Eczacibasi Holding, Sodexo and Inter Ikea Holding Services. She also served as a Non-Executive Director of Hornbach Baumarkt from 2009 to 2013. 

Commenting on the appointment, Luc Jobin, Chairman, said: “I am pleased to welcome Véronique to our board. Véronique has extensive international consumer goods, strategic, transformation and digital experience, and I look forward to her contribution as we accelerate our strategy to build A Better Tomorrow.”

BAT’s Main Board is collectively responsible to shareholders of the company for the Group’s performance, strategic direction, values and governance. It provides the leadership necessary for the Group to meet its performance objectives within a robust framework of internal controls.

Members of the Main Board come from a range of different industry and professional backgrounds, with varied experience and expertise aligned to the needs of our business. Currently, 36% of our Main Board is female, with six different nationalities represented.

BAT announced in July that, with effect from 1 August, Sue Farr succeeded Dimitri Panayotopoulos as Senior Independent Director. Sue has been a Non-Executive Director of the Company since February 2015.  She is a member of the Nominations and Renumeration Committees. Dimitri has been a Non-Executive Director of the Company since February 2015.  He continues as Chair of the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Nominations Committee.