British American Tobacco - News and features

This time, BAT’s Global HR team has partnered with our corporate venture arm, Btomorrow Ventures, to deliver a competition that truly demonstrates our journey towards A Better Tomorrow™.

The competition opened for registration this week and will see teams of students and recent graduates, pitching to solve an ESG-themed challenge focused on culture, farming, waste or energy.

The top prize for the winning team is a non-conditional sponsorship from BAT to implement their business idea, with up to £50,000 investment and a potential place on an accelerator programme for start-ups. The two runners-up will win up to £25,000 investment. Successful participants may also be considered for employment opportunities at BAT as Global Graduates or interns.

Participants across 27 markets are tasked with developing an innovative product and are judged on the following criteria:

• Strong original idea.
• Solid depth of research and analytics.
• Business feasibility.
• High-quality business plan.
• Presentation skills and teamwork.

Battle of Minds, being run for a third time, is a major event on the BAT calendar, as it allows the company to find and nurture some of the brightest young business minds from around the world.

Yulia Begemann, BAT’s Group Head of Talent Acquisition, says: “Battle of Minds is part of BAT’s continuous effort to attract early career talent with the right digital capabilities in a way that resonates with them. We are challenging those who take part in the competition to contribute to our journey to deliver A Better Tomorrow.”

Battle of Minds also presents another way in which BAT can further its commitment to its ESG principles and accelerate its business transformation. Lisa Smith, MD, Btomorrow Ventures, said: “Btomorrow Ventures is thrilled to be leveraging our amazing global network to find world class solutions that help our planet. I can’t wait to meet these innovators and see how we can support them.”

ESG is a key driver of BAT’s transformation journey to build A Better Tomorrow™ for all stakeholders and is at the core of our business.

Speaking about this year’s ESG focus, Jennie Galbraith, BAT’s Head of Environment, Social and Governance, said: “ESG remains front and centre of everything that we do as a business. We understand our stakeholders want to know how we are addressing our key sustainability challenges and our journey in delivering A Better Tomorrow. Battle of Minds will not only help us find innovative ESG solutions, but it will also provide a platform for these early career talents to contribute to the work we are doing in this area.”

Interested in taking part, or know someone who might like to participate in Battle of Minds? Visit competition.bat-battleofminds.com.

The results show that we delivered a strong performance in a challenging year and that our journey to deliver A Better Tomorrow to all our stakeholders is well underway.

As our Chief Executive, Jack Bowles, says: “We are committed to reducing the health impact of our business, while delivering sustainable results that create long-term multi-stakeholder value”.

Our video runs through some of the highlights of our 2020 performance.

Chief Marketing Officer Kingsley Wheaton appeared on CNBC Europe’s morning business show Squawk Box to discuss BAT’s 2020 preliminary results, which were released today (17 February).

At BAT, we are committed to our purpose of building A Better Tomorrow™ by reducing the health impact of our business through providing a range of enjoyable and less risky products. We continue to be clear that combustible cigarettes pose serious health risks, and the only way to avoid these risks is not to start or to quit. We encourage those who otherwise continue to smoke, to switch completely to scientifically-substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives.*

In the interview, Kingsley highlighted our growth in New Categories and earnings in the year to 31 December 2020. He said this “great performance”, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was proof that our strategy is working.

He also drew attention to our ambition to have 50million consumers of our non-combustible products by 2030, adding that 10% of our revenues now come from non-combustible products. Kingsley said: “We had a great performance in that regard in 2020, gaining real momentum in the second half of the year when consumer adoption of our New Category products doubled vs the first half.

He added: “We have a unique, consumer-centric multi-category strategy. And what’s exciting is that it’s working and that we have momentum in all three of our New Categories (vapour, tobacco heating products and modern oral).”

On the topic of how COVID-19 has impacted businesses, Kingsley said BAT was very pleased to have grown revenue, profit and earnings in a year so affected by the pandemic.

He said: “[COVID-19] has enabled us to accelerate the transformation of our business. We’ve developed and invested in new capabilities and new ways of bringing our [New Categories] portfolio to consumers.

He added: “It’s enabled us to more radically shake-up the way we do business and underpin our transformation from a tobacco company to a company that’s more about technology.”

You can watch the full interview above. Click the link to read our  preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2020.

As a company, we have a clear purpose to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business. To do that, we need fresh, diverse thinking in science and innovation. That is why our Women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) initiative to attract and retain more female talent in our Research & Development, Operations, and Information & Digital Technology functions is so important.

We are proud members of WISE (Women into Science and Engineering), an education and networking organisation that supports women in STEM. We are also committed to both our Women in Leadership programme and 30% Mentoring Club to help increase the number of women in senior roles.

One of those leading the way in R&D is Carlista Moore Condé, Head of New Sciences. Growing up in the southern states of the USA, Carlista’s interest in science started to develop at a young age, and, after more than two decades working for some of the world’s biggest companies, her love of science remains as strong as ever.

“Science and technology touch virtually all aspects of our lives and I find that fascinating,” Carlista says. “I love challenges, actually I need them to feel fulfilled.

“One of the things that truly excites me about my role is that the primary objective of the function is to create a solid scientific foundation to support our product portfolio and this work is directly linked to our company’s core purpose to build A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business and offering adult consumers a greater choice of potentially less risky products.”

Another important member of the BAT R&D community is Analytical Scientist, Dr Isabel Pinto.

Isabel works on the chemical characterisation of our Potentially Reduced-Risk Products and says one of the things she enjoys most about her role is being able to collaborate with other colleagues in R&D.

“I’m really passionate about my work at BAT because I’m doing what I love — research,” Isabel says. “I get the chance to work with different project teams and different groups. And this diversity of people, of different backgrounds, ages, nationalities and cultures has been really important and rewarding in my professional and personal life.”

Behavioural Scientist, Mandara Shetty, is one of the members of our Human and Consumer Behaviour team. Originally from India, she moved to London when she was eight years old and is now based in Southampton. Mandara returned to a permanent position after a year’s industrial placement in R&D.

She says: “I’m passionate about the work that I do now because I think it gives me a great balance between exploring the different curiosities I have, in terms of my scientific research questions, as well as delivering scientific findings and insights in a business-relevant way to inform Harm Reduction practices.”

We achieved industry-leading scores in 13 of the 23 categories assessed and top scores of 100% in seven of these categories.

Created by S&P Dow Jones Indices, the DJSI represents the gold standard for tracking corporate sustainability. In 2020, around 3,500 companies had their sustainability practices assessed against ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria. Only the top 10% are recognised as leaders in corporate sustainability and achieve DJSI World Index inclusion.

This recognition is testament to our continued commitment to accelerate the transformation of our company. We are building A Better Tomorrow by reducing the health impact of its global business, which entails:

• Committing to providing adult consumers with a wide range of enjoyable and less risky products
• Continuing to be clear that combustible cigarettes pose serious health risks, and the only way to avoid these risks is not to start or to quit
• Encouraging those who otherwise continue to smoke, to switch completely to scientifically-substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives
• Tracking and sharing progress of our transformation

Watch our video above to find out more.

So we are proud to have been named as Diversity Leaders by the Financial Times for a second consecutive year.

The prestigious FT Diversity Leaders report recognises the top 850 companies across 16 European countries that have achieved a diverse and inclusive workplace. Areas assessed include: Gender balance; sexual orientation; and a workforce comprised of an ethnic and social mix that reflects wider society.

Attracting and retaining an increasingly diverse workforce, and providing a welcoming, inclusive working environment is a key driver in our transformation journey to build A Better Tomorrow.

And we have set ourselves new diversity and inclusion ambitions to achieve by 2025. These include:

• Increasing the number of women in senior leadership teams to 40%
• Increasing the number of women in management roles to 45%
• Achieving a 50% spread of nationalities within key leadership teams to better mirror BAT’s consumer base.

Find out more in our news release and by watching the video above.

The seventh edition of the BAT Grad Academy, which finished earlier this month, brought together our largest set of global graduates to date in a fully virtual environment. The 239 grads from 51 markets were, over three weeks, challenged with new business topics, refreshed leadership modules and exciting interactive sessions. More than 50 BAT senior leaders including members of our Management Board shared knowledge and insights, as did a host of external speakers.

The Grad Academy is the formal learning experience of BAT’s Global Graduate programme, which accelerates the commercial acumen and strategic thinking of our grads and supports them to build the right capabilities as future leaders.

A key element in redesigning and adapting the academy to a virtual environment was ensuring the strong points from previous editions were retained. To achieve this, the team focused on addressing top priorities from our A Better Tomorrow company purpose, our new ethos and leadership capabilities. This translated into modules on topics such as resilience, self-awareness and personality, personal influence and feedback.

To keep up with the dynamic pace of our business, new business sessions on digital marketing, circular economy and New Categories product design were introduced.

Simi Dubb, Group Head of Talent Development & Inclusion, said: “We are very excited to see the positive impact and outcome of our first virtual Grad Academy, with 95% of Grad attendees finding the content relevant, and 100% positive they will be more effective in their role post-academy. This is an important stepping-stone that proves how quickly we can adapt to the development needs of our employees and the current reality. It has been amazing to see the grads so engaged during the sessions, expressing their curiosity and knowledge in front of our senior leaders; and how easily they formed strong relationships while physically distant from each other.”

During the academy, the grads participated in two dynamic business simulations where they practiced teamwork, quick decision making, agile collaboration and strategic thinking. On week two, they had the opportunity to experience an R&D-focused session with our Formula 1 motorsport partners McLaren Racing, as well as a virtual tour of the McLaren Technology Centre.

The grads also had the chance to network and get to know each other better in a speed networking session, talent Show and closing awards event, the ‘GRADDYs’.

Speaking on the Ian King Live show, Kingsley stressed the need for a collaborative, stakeholder-inclusive approach to accelerate tobacco harm reduction - the main focus of his GTNF speech.

Kingsley said: “I’ve been talking this morning about how we need to bring all parties to this complex societal debate to ensure we can accelerate tobacco harm reduction as fast as possible.

“We have to communicate and engage with regulators, policy makers, society and consumers with factual information to make sure we have a fact-based discourse to understand how we can accelerate tobacco harm reduction.”

Talking about BAT’s A Better Tomorrow journey, he added: “We’ve been making great progress. We came out with an ambition in March to have 50 million non-combustible consumers by 2030. We already have 12 million users of our non-combustible products – a number that has increased by 3 million in the last 12 months.”

Kingsley went on to highlight individual New Category product successes in Canada, the UK, Japan and the USA before the conversation turned to our tobacco plant-based vaccine development work.

Kingsley explained how our flu vaccine was at the phase 1 clinical trial stage, while our COVID vaccine has been submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration for review before it can progress to clinical trials.

“These are exciting times”, Kingsley said. “We must move carefully and thoughtfully forward with our vaccine development, but tobacco plant-based vaccines can offer the world some exciting opportunities.

“This is all part of our A Better Tomorrow journey as we gradually shift our revenues away from combustibles to new alternatives.”

• Read a full transcript of Kingsley’s GTNF keynote speech here.

Back in February, we marked International Day of Women and Girls in Science by celebrating the achievements of our female scientists and shone a spotlight on their world-class research.

We are delighted that our video has won a platinum award in the long-form video category at this year’s dotCOMM Awards. The international online competition is run by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals and honours excellence in web creativity and digital communication.

Sarah Cooney, a senior manager in the Science Comms team, said it was great to get recognition for our diverse group of talented scientists.

“We are delighted to have won a dotCOMM award for our Women in Science campaign. We know BAT has always championed women’s careers and this award is testament to the fantastic work being carried out by our scientists here in R&D. They discussed their professional journeys and shared what motivated them in their careers, and I hope they have inspired others to seek an exciting career in science.

“The video was incredibly well received on social media and initiatives like this help us to give people a better understanding of our industry, serving as tools for engagement and recruitment.”

BAT’s commitment to diversity and equality in the workplace was reinforced by the launch of our Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) initiative in 2019. Using external partnerships and internal learning and development platforms, the initiative aims to attract, develop and retain more women in our R&D, Operations and Information & Digital Technology (IDT) functions. Our pioneering women and valuable male allies featured in the national Women in STEM campaign in June, with coverage in The Week and womeninstem.co.uk .

Kingsley Wheaton was interviewed on the Ian King Live show on Friday morning, shortly after our results were released. Kingsley highlighted our strong H1 performance, amid difficult circumstances, as we delivered growth in adjusted revenue, profit from operations and earnings, at constant rates. He drew particular attention to the fact that, over the last year, around 3 million consumers had moved to our new category products and how 10% of our revenues now come from non-combustibles. He highlighted also our tobacco heating product progress in Japan and the “bellwether city” of Moscow in Russia and our “excellent” vapour performance in North America and in key European markets. This came, Kingsley said, as we adapted our marketing model to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kingsley also provided an update on our potential COVID-19 vaccine, about which we are engaging with the U.S Food & Drug Administration. He mentioned too how a flu vaccine we had been working pre-COVID has moved to the clinical trial stage.

“This is another example of our A Better Tomorrow strategy”, Kingsley said: “Trying to reduce the health impact of our business and to provide A Better Tomorrow for society, shareholders, consumers and our employees.”

You can watch the interview above. Click the link to read our Half-year Report for the six months to 30 June 2020.

The latest edition of Battle of Minds, our global competition focused on finding the brightest young business minds from around the world, wrapped up this week with the announcement of the winners at a virtual awards ceremony.

Following a tough selection process, which began at the end of 2019 with 413 business cases submitted from around the world, our judges Vivek Chaudhri, Global Head of Digital Innovation, Lisa Smith, Managing Director, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and Edward Forsdike, Head of Emerging Product Platforms, had the difficult decision of picking the team that would scoop the top prize.

In a virtual ceremony, Hae In Kim, Director, Talent and Culture, announced the team from Kenya as the overall winners with their business case for Envo-Plastic – the concept of a plastic waste recycling company which harnesses 3D printing technology to help provide affordable homes to low-income earners, with plastic waste as a major source of raw materials.

Envo-Plastic’s team members – Eric Bakuli, Gerald Ayieye and Anthony Mathu – will each receive a £3,000 voucher towards online education from some of the world’s top universities.

Speaking about Battle of Minds going ahead despite the lockdown difficulties surrounding COVID-19, Hae In Kim said: “We will continue to introduce innovative tools to advance our approach to early identification of future potential and drive accelerated talent development. I am super proud that our Talent Acquisition team was able to stage this competition virtually, a true definition of delivering results no matter the circumstances.”

Our short animation above further explains this strategy and clear corporate purpose and how we will build on our strong foundations and global capabilities to meet the changing needs of our consumers.

The animation details how sustainability is front and centre of all we do and how we have set ourselves ambitious targets – including becoming carbon neutral by 2030. It also explains how our Ethos, which represents our culture and who we are as a business, is key to delivering A Better Tomorrow for all our stakeholders.

“Our business has extremely strong foundations and, with the launch of our evolved strategy, we are well-positioned for long term sustainable growth as we embark on this journey of building A Better Tomorrow together,” said our Chief Executive, Jack Bowles.

Find out more at bat.com/strategy.

BAT has marked International Women's Day with a focus on our individual responsibility to build a gender equal world.

The theme of International Women’s Day (IWD) – a global initiative that happens annually on 8 March – is #EachforEqual. It calls on people to value different perspectives, challenge stereotypes, recognise unconscious bias and broaden perceptions to ensure we create a gender-equal world.

We have participated in the IWD campaign to raise awareness among our people around gender diversity, share our progress, celebrate women’s achievements, launch new initiatives and make new commitments.

Last week, IWD was marked by our people around the world. At our head office in London, we held an event featuring a panel discussion and talks from senior female leaders at BAT, including Hae In Kim – Director, Talent and Culture; Simi Dubb – Group Head of Talent Development and D&I; and Dr. Lisa Smith – MD, Ventures.

They shared their personal stories, bringing to life their experiences throughout the years of professional growth. Some of their tips included: strive to be the best in what you do while staying true to yourself; celebrate each other’s contributions and achievements; connect and support the women around us; and call out and signpost the positive behaviours that help to foster inclusivity and diversity.

Simi Dubb said: “Diversity and inclusion is critical to our organisational growth. Valuing different perspectives requires us to examine our individual actions, behaviours and mindsets and how this impacts on our ability to make others feel valued and make informed business decisions.”

Increasing the level of senior female representation in our business is a long-standing priority for BAT and we’ve come a long way in driving gender diversity across the company. We more than doubled the representation of women in our senior management roles from 11% in 2012 to 23% in 2019. Last year also saw increased female representation on our Management Board with two new female members.

Our commitment to marking IWD is evident in our second-time recognition by the organisers as one of the best private sector companies in terms of impact and innovation in IWD celebrations. We were also recognised as a diversity leader in 2019 by the UK’s Financial Times in its inaugural Diversity Leaders report.

On International Mother Language Day, we celebrate our differences and what brings us together. The video above features a range of our people, based at our London headquarters, saying “We are BAT” in a variety of languages which reflect our diverse make-up.

Simi Dubb, BAT’s Group Head of Talent Development and Inclusion, said: “As we continue to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment, it is imperative that we take the opportunity to celebrate what makes us different. At BAT, while we have many different mother tongues, we all speak the same language.”

In the video above, our R&D experts – from a range of areas including toxicology, chemistry and product safety – share their professional journeys and explore what motivates them.

From pursuing a childhood passion to carving out a career in global research, our scientists explain what they do, why they love it and how they have further developed their skills at BAT.

Principal Science Manager, Dr Summer Hanna, said working alongside curious scientists was one of the most enjoyable parts of her role.

“You’re surrounded by scientists who want to go to the next level, who are passionate about their jobs and are passionate about building a culture that empowers our scientists to learn and explore,” Summer said.

Linsey Haswell, a scientist in the Pre-clinical team, explains how working with a diverse team of scientists pushes her to be her best. Linsey said: “R&D is such a diverse community and it’s great to work here. I have learned so much over the years and we have lovely people here who are always willing to spend their time and learn with you. I think this has really shaped my career not just as a scientist, but also as a woman in business.”

Dr David O’Reilly, Director, Scientific Research, said: “Our industry is changing rapidly, and we are at the forefront of this momentous change. I’m pleased we are marking this important day by shining the spotlight on some of our incredibly talented scientists who are accelerating our transformation and pushing our company forward.”

We aim to attract the brightest and best to BAT, offering world-class development and training to grads as they set off on their career journeys.

Whether joining the BAT graduate programme in Operations, Marketing, Finance or any of our functions, grads can expect a fast-paced, exciting journey that will stretch and test them. The ultimate aim is for them to be propelled into a management role within 12 months.

To spread the word about how their Operations graduates can succeed, the team at the Augustow factory in Poland put together a fantastic video, which you can watch above.

Malgorzata Lewandowska Zywna, Manufacturing Development Manager at Augustow, said: “With this video we wanted to show what a great place Augustow is to work and offer encouragement to our next generation of leaders as we help support BAT’s transformation journey.”

Find out more about BAT’s Global Graduate Programme – and where you could fit in across our business – by visiting our dedicated careers website, careers.bat.com .

• VUSE for vapour products
• VELO for modern oral products
• GLO for tobacco heating products

In the video above, our Chief Marketing Officer, Kingsley Wheaton, explains that, as BAT focuses on becoming a stronger, simpler, faster organisation, now is the right time to make this move.

He says: “We want to lead the industry across all our New Category products and believe the time is now right to simplify our brand portfolio, creating three strong, recognisable and trusted global brands.”

We told you in June how B United was going from strength to strength as it celebrated its first anniversary since being rebranded from its predecessor, Lucky Tribe. Since then, the network’s members and allies have been busy spreading the word about diversity and inclusion at BAT.

In July we lit up our London headquarters in rainbow colours and flew a rainbow flag to celebrate Pride month. This was followed by B United members attending Pride parades in London and Mexico – for the first time ever under the B United banner. Our short video above recaps on these events and more, as well as giving a general overview of the great work that B United does all year round.

As B United President, Damian De Conno, says in the video: “At B United we want to make sure that everyone who works for BAT is able to openly and honestly be themselves. When you walk into a BAT office, you should feel as proud about yourself as you do about working for BAT. It’s about making BAT the best place to work.”

Find out more about B United and diversity at BAT.

Following recent appearances on CNBC and BBC Radio 4, Kingsley visited CNN's London studio to talk to journalist Richard Quest, host of the globally-broadcast Quest Means Business.

On the show, Kingsley discussed our company's transformation, underpinned by our focus on New Category products. He also addressed recent reports from the U.S. in relation to vaping, as well as BAT’s commitment to responsible marketing and youth access prevention.

He said: "It is really important for consumers that we responsibly market these products, that we have sound regulation. We've invested nearly four billion dollars on this journey. We have 130 PhDs across our R&D superhubs, we have 50 toxicologists in Southampton ensuring only the right ingredients get to consumers."

2019 marks the 10th anniversary of BAT Bangladesh’s Probaho clean water initiative.

Launched in 2009, Probaho now provides 400,000 litres of water daily through 78 filtration plants in some of the many rural areas of Bangladesh which are affected by arsenic-contaminated water. The initiative touches the lives of 200,000 beneficiaries every day.

The initiative is in keeping with our Group’s commitment to working towards enabling prosperous livelihoods for all farmers who supply our tobacco leaf. It also supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

One Probaho beneficiary said: “My children, my family, they all drink Probaho water. We drink it, cook it, wash with it.”

Another added: “Before Probaho we would spend a lot on healthcare. That’s changed now. Fewer illnesses, fewer trips to the doctor.”

Probaho was featured in our original ‘We are BAT company video’ and in a subsequent follow-up production, from 2017, which you can watch above.

Shehzad Munim, General Manager, BAT Bangladesh, said: “Probaho is a project that we are very proud of at BAT Bangladesh and demonstrates our commitment to improving the lives of people and communities where we operate. When the small actions of people add up to make something bigger than themselves, it creates a ripple effect – which makes projects like Probaho possible.”

Earlier this year, BAT Bangladesh launched a media campaign to drive further awareness of Probaho, all in keeping with the World Water Day 2019 theme of “leaving no-one behind”.

You can read more about Probaho and watch a video celebrating the 10 years of the initiative on its dedicated Facebook page .

Download our latest Sustainability Report to read about our work and progress across our three strategic focus areas: harm reduction, sustainable agriculture and farmer livelihoods, and corporate behaviour.

That’s why we are launching our Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) initiative. Using external partnerships and internal learning and development platforms, the initiative aims to attract develop and retain more women in our Research & Development, Operations and Information & Digital Technology (IDT) functions.

In our video above, we hear from some of the women in ‘STEM’ roles who talk about the importance of this initiative and why it is the right time to work for BAT as a STEM professional.

We currently employ more than 21,000 people in ‘STEM’ roles around the world. We have range of scientists, engineers and technicians at all levels in our largest R&D centres in the UK, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil. Our engineers work in factories across the world on our cutting-edge and innovative products while our IDT hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Poland and Mexico are leading our digital transformation.

Marina Bellini, our Director, Digital and Information, says: “We are constantly looking for new solutions and to create a new future. We need people who can come up with different ways of looking at solutions, people who can approach innovation programmes with a slightly different touch. We need a diverse workforce to enable us to achieve some of these goals.”

In the UK, we have joined WISE , an organisation that enables people in business, industry and education to increase the participation, contribution and success of women in STEM by organising knowledge sharing and networking events, training and webinars. These types of partnerships, which we are looking to implement in key hubs across the business, will also provide female employees the opportunity to widen their network and interact with peers from other companies.

If you are interested in a career at BAT, visit careers.bat.com .

• Read more about diversity initiatives at BAT.

The updated bat-science.com is intended for a broad audience, including public health communities, journalists, scientists, and consumers with an interest in science. It offers clear scientific information around vapour, tobacco heating and modern oral products, as well as a deep dive into scientific studies and product development.

It also features a range of videos and animations which bring to life how our products work, how they are tested and much more besides.

Among the new videos is one featuring our Scientific Research Director, Dr David O’Reilly, who talks about how science is powering innovation at BAT and plays a fundamental role in building trust in our products.

He says: “Our products go through robust scientific assessment to make sure they are as safe and satisfying as possible. We are building a strong scientific foundation behind each category and product.”

Watch David’s video above and visit the new-look bat-science website .

Kingsley and Marina were interviewed by CNBC’s James Wright on the channel’s flagship programme, Marketing.Media.Money , which focuses on business leaders, brands and trends.

As well as discussing Transforming Tobacco, Kingsley also spoke about our potentially reduced-risk products and our global Formula One partnership with McLaren.

“It is probably the most exciting juncture for the tobacco business worldwide, and this is true of BAT as it is the industry”, said Kingsley. “We are on a pathway to transforming tobacco, the opportunity to move consumers from the combustible products… and market a whole new range of alternative tobacco and nicotine products which are potentially safer for consumers.”

Marina highlighted the world-class science behind our products as well as our journey to drive tobacco harm reduction. She explained the importance of technology and innovation, how we approach our portfolio and the need for quality and standards based on robust science.

“I believe R&D is the most important part of marketing because in these New Categories, the product is front and centre. It is our number one job to have a product that works well”, said Marina.

The short video showcases the strengths of our diverse, driven and dynamic organisation, emphasising our variety of backgrounds and skills and how this gives us the edge to be a global leader.

It was made with the aim of showing pride in our heritage while at the same time making our employees excited about the future and the transformation currently underway at BAT.

The graduates spent two weeks finding out more about our business, undertaking a variety of sessions across areas including finance, supply chain, operations, regulation and marketing.

There were also sessions focusing on personal development, as well as lessons in leadership and Q&As with senior leaders including our Group Financial Controller, James Barrett and Group Head of Manufacturing, Corinne Burrows.

The grads’ main task was a business simulation competition where they had to ‘run’ their own business and present their strategy to senior BAT management.

Paulina Nainggolan, from BAT Indonesia, said: “Thanks to the Grad Academy, I’ve gained more insight and knowledge, which will be very important for my future career.”

Mashroor Faiyaz Khan, from BAT Bangladesh, added: “This wasn’t just a training session, it was such an interactive, engaging experience.”

The grads also enjoyed a trip to our London HQ, as well as a visit to our research and development hub in Southampton, UK, to find out more about our potentially reduced-risk products and the science behind our tobacco leaf process.

In this video above you can hear from some of our women scientists based in our Southampton, UK, R&D hub as they talk about their careers in science, and how BAT is helping to support them achieve their full potential.

Jessica Mushonganono, Toxicologist, talks about how she was always interested in science at school and how BAT allows her to grow as a scientist by offering many different development opportunities.

She says: “For any girls considering a career in science, I’d say do it. There are no barriers holding you back and if you’re committed, you can do it.”

Jenni Hawke, Sensory Scientist, talks about how science was always her calling and how BAT is a great place to work if you are interested in science.

She adds: “I still have the opportunity to learn and to grow and for me that is really important. The heart of science for me is curiosity and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

David O’Reilly, Director, Scientific Research, comments:

“We are currently in the most dynamic period of change our industry has ever known. As part of our ambition to lead this change, we have been investing billions in R&D to design a transformational range of potentially reduced-risk alternatives to cigarettes. As we continue on our journey to transform our products, our company and our industry, it has never been a more exciting time to be a scientist at BAT.

“I’m delighted that we’re marking this day by showcasing some of the incredible talent and passion that is helping to fuel our transformation, and I hope that some of the work we are doing can inspire the next generation of women and girls in science.”

Gender diversity is one of the key focus areas of our Diversity & Inclusion agenda at BAT. Following a range of initiatives to improve gender diversity at all levels within the Group, representation of women in senior management has doubled since 2011, reaching 22% in 2018.

Stay tuned in the coming months to hear more about how BAT supports women in STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths.

The transformation, designed to embody the BAT East & Central Africa Area (ECAA) mantra of being “Energised, Collaborative and Agile”, has resulted in a modern workspace that is truly fit for the future.

The new offices, opened last year, house the manufacturing and commercial operations for all BAT’s East & Central Africa Area (ECAA) operation.

Area Director, Beverley Spencer-Obatoyinbo, said: “The project team have delivered a wonderful commercial office space which has taken ECAA and its work environment into a completely creative and innovative realm. I know that this ‘great place to work’ will deliver even more energy, collaboration and agility across the organisation. This is just the beginning of our transformational journey here in ECAA and I’m very excited for what the future holds.”

2018 saw BAT Kenya named as a national Employer of the Year for a second successive year, as well as again receiving Top Employer status from Top Employers Institute.

For the first time since last year’s acquisition, delegates from Reynolds American Inc joined the Academy, making it the largest and most international one we’ve ever hosted!

Among the activities the young men and women participated in included two business simulations which enhanced their overall view of the business. They also worked to develop their leadership capabilities, while networking with colleagues from around the world.

Stephen Filotas, BAT’s Group Head of Trade, Marketing & Distribution was one of the senior leaders who graduates were able to learn from. He said: “(At the Graduate Academy) you find very diverse cultures, very bright people. Everyone was extremely energetic, involved and engaged.”

Take a look at our video to hear from the graduates themselves as we introduce #NextGenBAT.

The initiative – called Parents@BAT – offers a minimum of 16 weeks’ fully paid maternity leave for new mothers and adoptive parents and a return-to-work guarantee. It also includes flexible working opportunities and an online advice service offering coaching support.

Parents@BAT, effective from 1 January 2019, offers significantly better terms than existing legal requirements in a number of our markets. The minimum 16 weeks’ fully paid maternity leave element of the initiative goes above and beyond local requirements in 26 countries, including: United States, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Nigeria, Argentina, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Pakistan.

While Parents@BAT provides minimum guidelines, BAT’s support for new parents already goes far beyond these, and local statutory requirements, in many countries. In the UK, for example, parents on maternity leave receive six months’ full pay and pro-rata bonus, statutory pay for three months and a return to work guarantee.

Nicandro Durante, CEO at BAT, said: “We want to ensure no-one at BAT has to choose between their career and their family and that’s why this will be available to colleagues all over the world. We are proud to be offering this new range of parental benefits on a global scale and we are looking forward to seeing the changes this will hopefully make to the lives of both our current and future employees.”

You can read more about Parents@BAT here.

Titled ‘How do you want your day to be?’, the video focuses on Kristina, based in our office in Copenhagen, Denmark. It gives a ‘day in the life’ view of someone who has progressed in her BAT career from intern to global graduate to manager for one of our biggest brands in Northern Europe.

In the video, Kristina – since promoted to Head of Shopper Marketing in NEA – talks about her career progression, and the importance of having the support of her colleagues, both inside and outside of work, as they go through their BAT journeys together.

“I love being challenged”, Kristina says in the video. “But also to get the opportunity to go as far as I want. Together with my colleagues. My friends.”

A massive 44,000 employees responded to our 2017 survey, with the results showing that we are performing very well in many areas – often, much better than the norm for large global companies like ours.

Watch our video to find out more about our results and discover how we are performing against our comparators. And, if you would like to add your voice to those who are proud to work for British American Tobacco, visit bat-careers.com, where you can find out more about opportunities at our company and be directed to our latest vacancies.

In the original film, we heard from one of BAT’s contracted farmers, Abdul, about the benefits of the “Probaho” clean water initiative. We now go back to the same community and hear from Zunaeed, Regional Leaf Manager for BAT Bangladesh, who highlights the effect of the initiative on the people of Kushtia.

Launched in 2009, Probaho helps to ensure 170,000 people a day in Bangladesh benefit from better access to safe drinking water, thanks to 65 new water filtration plants we have installed.

“I am very much proud to be part of BAT Bangladesh,” says Zunaeed. “Having a legacy of more than 100 years, contributing to almost 33,000 farming families, to improve their livelihood and economic development.” He adds: “We are helping the farmers to build a better and safer world.”

The Probaho project has had a huge impact on those responsible for collecting the family’s water each day who no longer have to travel long distances. Shahanaj is a resident of Kushtia and teacher at the school she attended as a child. She says: “The people in my neighbourhood are happier now.”

The Probaho initiative also features in our brand-new Focus Report on Sustainable Agriculture and Farmer Livelihoods. Download it to learn more about how we support the 350,000+ farmers we work with in 34 countries to help them thrive.

You can see our first follow-up video, focusing on two members of our Trade Marketing and Distribution team in Johannesburg, South Africa, here.

One of the stories we heard in the original We Are BAT film was from a sales representative in South Africa, who told the cameras: “I feel like the sky’s the limit on what you can achieve.”

And in our follow-up video we hear from two fellow members of our Trade Marketing and Distribution team in Johannesburg, who talk about the opportunities for professional development that come with working for BAT.

Through their story, we hope you’ll get a sense of the incredible teamwork, camaraderie and passion that goes into making us a progressive company that’s proud of its heritage and excited about the future.

The video presents our business through the eyes of our employees and those we work with and support around the world.

We believe their stories show who we are: a progressive company that’s proud of its heritage and excited about the future

Produced during 2016, We are BAT was filmed in five locations in four continents. It features people living different lives in diverse countries but who share a common pride and commitment in what they do.

You’ll hear from BAT scientists in the UK involved in developing a next generation of potentially less harmful nicotine products; a sales representative supporting retailers in South Africa; and a farmer in Brazil whose family has been supplying us with tobacco for three generations.

Also featured is a community in Bangladesh which has access to clean drinking water thanks to a water purification plant provided by BAT, while we also hear the thoughts of a management trainee embarking on a career with our company.

We’re proud of the video and the people who took part in it. It’s through their words that we aim to show some of the ways we are contributing to the livelihoods of people around the world and meeting the evolving needs of our consumers with innovative Next Generation Products.