Mr. Paul Adams has been employed with BAT, since the year 1991. The 57-year-old has headed the cigarette manufacturing Company since 2004.

But now Adams feels that both the Company and he require change. Under the leadership of Mr. Adams, the Company has made acquisitions worth $5bn. These acquisitions include Tekel, which was formerly Turkey's state owned Company.

The Company also sustained the profits by increasing the cost in Western Europe in order to compensate for the falling demand.

Mr. Durante will become the Chief Executive of the Company on September 1. He had joined the Company in the year 1981 and had taken care of the Company’s operations in Africa, Brazil and the Middle East. He has dual nationalities of Brazil and Italy, respectively and is fond of smoking a cigar.

He will take over the reins from February 2011 when Mr. Adams will retire. Also, Imperial Tobacco has witnessed a change in its leadership this year, with Alison Cooper becoming the Chief Executive in place of Gareth Davis. Ms. Cooper was earlier the Chief Operating Officer of the Company. Imperial tobacco is a competitor of BAT.

Though BAT is a very famous firm, it is has a comparatively less share of the UK’s market.