Cigar-chomping former FD blows away the competition at Imperial Tobacco to take the chief exec job
Jump to full article: Accountancy Age (uk), 2009-11-19
Author: Written by Becky Ashall
Intro: As the tobacco industry begins to boom once again, CEO Gareth Davis is stepping down at Imperial Tobacco and leaving the role to his former chief operations officer Alison Cooper. With her strong finance background, ICAEW-qualified Cooper has taken a more unusual path to the top, defying the typical FD-to-CEO strategy. But how has she done it?
What’s happened?
Cooper has been with the group since 1999 and has held a range of senior roles including director of finance and planning before moving out of finance, becoming regional director western Europe and corporate development director.
Her background as COO will have broadened her knowledge of the tobacco industry and given her great strategic insight into the workings of the market. And even in her previous role at PwC she was heavily involved with mergers and acquisitions for the tobacco giant a key strategy for Imperial Tobacco going forward.
With her widely reported love of cigars, Cooper seems like a logical choice.
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