Diageo appoints former Tesco boss as CEO
It comes after the company revealed that its organic sales growth was flat for the 13 weeks ended 30 September 2025
Register to get 1 free article
Reveal the article below by registering for our email newsletter.
Want unlimited access? View Plans
Already have an account? Sign in
Drinks giant Diageo has announced the appointment of Sir Dave Lewis as its new CEO and executive director, effective 1 January 2026.
Nik Jhangiani will continue as interim CEO until the end of December 2025 and then resume his CFO role thereafter. Deirdre Mahlan, having returned to Diageo as interim CFO, will continue to support Diageo through the transition.
Lewis served as group CEO of Tesco from 2014 to 2020 and prior to this spent nearly three decades at Unilever, latterly in executive committee roles, leading on both marketing and business performance.
Additionally, he has been the chair of Haleon, a global consumer healthcare business, since its creation in 2022 and is a non-executive board director of PepsiCo. Lewis will be stepping down from the Haleon role on 31 December 2025.
Sir John Manzoni, Diageo’s chair, who led the succession process on behalf of the board, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dave as Diageo’s new CEO. Having conducted an extensive and thorough global search, the Board unanimously felt that Dave has both the extensive CEO experience, and the proven leadership skills in building and marketing world-leading brands, that is right for Diageo at this time.
“We are confident that Dave will work with the team to take Diageo into its next successful chapter in the evolving consumer environment. The Board wishes to recognise and thank Nik Jhangiani for his excellent leadership as Interim CEO and for continuing to drive forward Diageo’s sharpened strategy.”
Lewis added: “Diageo is a world leading business with a portfolio of very strong brands, and I am delighted to be joining the team. The market faces some headwinds but there are also significant opportunities. I look forward to working with the team to face these challenges and realise some of the opportunities in a way which creates shareholder value.”
It comes after the company revealed that its organic sales growth was flat for the 13 weeks ended 30 September 2025.
Reported sales fell 2.2% from £4.99bn down to £4.86bn largely reflecting the negative impact of disposals and with negligible impact from foreign exchange.
