British American Tobacco p.l.c. announced that Soraya Benchikh has been appointed to the Executive Director and will join the BAT p.l.c. and Management Boards from 1 May 2024. She will succeed Javed Iqbal, who will continue to serve as interim Finance Director until 30 April 2024. Soraya has been President, Europe at Diageo plc since January 2023, having joined Diageo in July 2020 as Managing Director for Northern Europe.

Soraya previously spent 20 years at BAT where she served as President of BAT France, Area Director for East and Southern Africa, and Regional Finance Director for Europe. Earlier in her career, Soraya worked in finance roles at General Electric and Gillette.