BAT chief Jack Bowles steps down with immediate effect

The chief executive of British American Tobacco has stepped down with immediate effect in a sudden exit from one of the world's largest cigarette companies.

Jack Bowles, 59, has been replaced by Tadeu Marroco, BAT's group finance director, after just four years in the role, making him the shortest-serving boss of the three chief executives and one executive chairman the company has had since 1998.

The change at the top of the FTSE 100 maker of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes caught the City by surprise.

Bowles, whose strategy has been centred on driving sales of BAT's non-combustible portfolio of e-cigarettes and "heat not burn" devices, said "it is now the time for a change of leadership to take the business to the next level".