Diageo Chair Said to Shake Up Board in Turnaround

Diageo Chairman John Manzoni is said to be seeking board members with industry expertise. Both he and CEO Dave Lewis come from outside the drinks industry. Currently, the only non-executive director who has senior leadership experience at a spirits company is  Valérie Chapoulaud-Floquet. formerly CEO of Remy Cointreau.

Lewis wants new board members who can help Lewis run the company's turnaround plan and can challenge him if needed. The Financial Times first reported the plan.

In another development, Reuters reported that at a meeting in Edinburgh, CEO Dave Lewis directed deep cuts to overhead. The result will be some teams will lose between 20% and 30% of headcount, including a group of around 100 senior leaders and one large regional business unit which is cutting around 25% to 30% of staff.

It's understood that at the Edinburgh meeting Lewis ordered overhead reductions of up to 40% in some markets and 50% in a centralized unit operating globally. It's understood managers are making office closues and other cost reductions to limit job losses.