Diageo has appointed Joanne Wilson from WPP as chief financial officer as Sir Dave Lewis rebuilds the drinks group’s top team.
Ms Wilson wil be reunited with the former Tesco CEO after spending more than a decade at Britain’s biggest grocer, including a stint as the finance chief of dunnhumby, its data analytics division.
She is currently CFO of WPP and previous employers include Britvic and KPMG where she qualified as a chartered accountant.
She replaces Nik Jhangiani and is hired on an annual salary of £900,000, a pension contribution of 14% of base salary and a bonus of up to 200% of base salary.
She will also have a long-term incentive plan opportunity with a maximum award of 550% of base salary and will be required to build a shareholding of 550% of salary.
Sir Dave said: “Nik and I have agreed that, now we have shared our new strategy, this is the right time for this change. Nik will remain in role to ensure a smooth handover to Joanne.
“Joanne is a very experienced CFO and commercial leader who will ensure we accelerate the turnaround of Diageo, having already delivered extensive transformations in her previous companies. I am looking forward to welcoming her to Diageo and the executive team.”
Diageo’s brands include Johnnie Walker whisky, Guinness, Smirnoff and Bailey’s. Mr Jhangiani joined the company from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in September 2024 and was interim chief executive from July to December 2025, overseeing the Accelerate programme and a focus on cash delivery, operational excellence and cost efficiency.
Sir John Manzoni, chair, said: “The board is grateful to Nik for everything that he has achieved with Diageo in repositioning the business to enable improved delivery of sustainable growth and shareholder value.
Mr Jhangiani said: “I have enjoyed every minute of my time at Diageo. I am proud that we were recently able to set out our three-year financial plan to our investors, including significant progress on deleveraging and strengthening our balance sheet.
“I would like to thank my fantastic team for their support, and I wish Dave and all our colleagues the very best for the future.”
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