Diageo will have a new chief financial officer in place from 2027 to accelerate its turnaround under CEO Dave Lewis.
Joanne Wilson, currently CFO at WPP, will take up the role from “some time in 2027”. WPP is one of the world’s largest advertising groups with around £14.6bn in annual revenue. Prior to WPP, Wilson held senior financial and commercial roles at Britvic, Tesco-owned data science group Dunnhumby and Tesco, after qualifying as an accountant at KPMG.
Wilson overlapped with Lewis for two years while at Dunhumby.
She will replace Diageo’s current CFO, Nik Jhangiani, who joined the group from Coca-Cola Europacific Partners in September 2024. He acted as interim chief executive from July to December 2025. Jhangiani will stay on in his role to ensure a smooth handover to Wilson.
Jhangiani has overseen the $29.6bn (£22.3bn) drinks company’s Accelerate financial turnaround plan, which delivered $540m in cost savings in FY26. Yet Lewis, who joined the company at the end of 2025, has set out further plans to overhaul the business’ performance and unveiled a $1.2bn restructuring programme in August 2026.
“It is a real pleasure working with Nik and I would like to thank him for his support to me and his significant contribution to Diageo,” Lewis 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.”
Wilson said she was “delighted” to join Lewis and the Diageo team at “such an exciting point” in the company’s turnaround.
“Diageo has a unique portfolio of global brands and a clear strategy with significant opportunities ahead,” she said. “I very much look forward to working together with all colleagues to consistently create value for shareholders and strong outcomes for all stakeholders.”
Jhangiani added that he had “enjoyed every minute” of his time at Diageo, and was “proud” of the new strategy and his progress in strengthening the company’s 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.”
Bernstein analyst Trevor Stirling praised the appointment
”As well as being an experienced CFO, with beverage experience from Britvic and multinational transformation at WPP, she has a lot of experience in category and customer analysis, an area where Sir Dave has highlighted Diageo‘s weaknesses,” he said.
”This is arguably the biggest leadership change at Diageo since Sir Dave took over. Earlier this year, Sally Grimes was replaced by Diageo veteran John O’Keeffe as the President of North Americas; and we have also seen changes in leadership in Africa, Asia and HR. Whilst we would not rule out one or two more changes to come, we expect broad stability in the senior leadership team from here on in.”
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