Zafar Kahn steps up as British American Tobacco operations director

British American Tobacco said on Tuesday that its operations director Alan Davy would step down from the board on 31 January, and would leave the company on 31 May to “pursue new challenges” and “spend more time with his family”.

The FTSE 100 cigarette giant said Davy joined the firm in 1988 and has been with the group for 32 years, eight years of which were as a member of the management board.

It added that Zafar Khan, currently group head of operations for new categories, would succeed Davy as operations director, and would be appointed to the management board from 1 February.

Khan started with British American Tobacco in his home country of Pakistan 24 years ago, the board confirmed.

Through his career he had acquired “extensive” global operations and supply chain experience, including regional operations director for Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and group head of plan, service and logistics.

“I would like to thank Alan for the enormous contribution he has made to the group throughout his 32-year career at BAT,” said chief executive officer Jack Bowles.

“Alan's transformation of operations into a dynamic, multi-category function has been a key component of our ‘A Better Tomorrow’ strategy.

“Most recently, the group's ability to navigate the challenges presented by Covid-19 is testament to the efficient, agile and globally integrated supply chain he has created.”

Bowles added that the company had around 13 million consumers of its non-combustible products, adding that Khan’s experience of expanding its capabilities and embedding an end-to-end supply chain for its new category products made him “the natural choice” as operations director.

“By carefully developing careers on a global stage, we are, once again, able to ensure a well thought through and orderly internal succession to a key leadership role.

“Alan and I are confident that Zafar is the right leader, at the right time for the opportunities ahead.”

At 0852 GMT, shares in British American Tobacco were up 0.18% at 2,755p.