John Kennedy, the former lead for Diageo in Europe, Turkey & India, has returned to the group barely six months after his departure.
Kennedy, who left the company in June after 27 years to start up an advisory business, has rejoined as Europe president this week. The move is on “an interim basis”, according to an internal communication.
The news comes two months after Soraya Benchikh confirmed her intention to step down as president of Europe. Benchikh is due to return to former employee British American Tobacco as CFO in May.
“Since he concluded his role as president, John has continued to work for Diageo over the past few months, supporting our ESG strategy and has also been providing advisory support to me on key projects,” said CEO Debra Crew in the communication. “He is therefore able to make a swift transition back into the Europe region to ensure a strong second half in fiscal 2024 [to the end of June] and take forward the plans that the Europe executive team are shaping for fiscal 2025 and beyond.”
Kennedy’s responsibilities will not include Turkey and India after his previous role was split to coincide with the end of his previous tenure.
Diageo will report its results for the six months to the end of December on 30 January. The figures will put meat around the bones of November’s warning of “slower growth” in the coming months, with consumers in the company’s ‘Latin America & Caribbean’ reporting region struggling with macroeconomic issues.
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