Imperial Tobacco Group today announces that, as part of the planned and orderly succession at senior board level, its non-executive chairman, Derek Bonham, will retire from the board by spring 2007.

He will be succeeded by Iain Napier, currently joint vice chairman and senior independent director of Imperial Tobacco Group and group chief executive of Taylor Woodrow. Until such time as Napier assumes the role of non-executive chairman he will continue in his role as joint vice chairman and senior independent director of Imperial Tobacco Group. (ci)