British American Tobacco is restructuring top management to fully integrate reduced risk products into mainstream operations, solidify regional management and create the position of chief operating officer, BAT said.

Jack Bowles, regional director for Asia-Pacific has been appointed chief operating officer with effect from 1 October. BAT’s regional structure will be reduced to three by eliminating the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) region.
“Now that we have built a successful (Next Generation Products) business which is poised for substantial growth, we will be fully integrating NGP into our existing business infrastructure across the Group – both within the functions and the regions – to leverage the scale and expertise of the whole Group to drive growth in an area that is fast becoming a key part of our mainstream business,” BAT said. NGP Managing Director Kingsley Wheaton will oversee the integration.
Ricardo Oberlander will continue to be responsible for the Americas as director of a region expanded to include Sub-Saharan Africa. Tadeu Marroco will expand his Western Europe director’s role to Europe and North Africa. EEMEA Director Johan Vandermeulen will head Asia-Pacific and Middle East. All regional directors are Management Board members.
Marketing Director Andrew Gray will become chief marketing officer. As previously announced when BAT bought Reynolds American Inc, former RAI chief executive Debra Crew joined the BAT Board on 27 July as president and chief executive officer of Reynolds American, reporting directly to BAT CEO Nicandro Durante.