Therese Esperdy, an experienced international investment banker, has joined the Board of Directors at Imperial Brands as an independent non-executive director, the company said.

Esperdy began her career at Lehman Brothers in 1989 and has held positions at Chase Securities and, following the merger, at JP Morgan. Until last year she was global chairman of JP Morgan’s Financial Institutions Group. “Her wealth of experience, including the US, will be a great asset to the Board, said Chairman Mark Williamson.