Pilsner chief goes in SABMiller rejig
International marketing director Phil Plowman axed as brewer merges Pilsner Urquell operations
Phil Plowman, SABMiller’s international marketing director for Pilsner Urquell, has lost his job following a management shake-up. It is not known whether Plowman, a former Holsten Pils marketing director, has a job to go to.
As part of the management restructure, Pilsner Urquell International (PUI) managing director Mark Luce has been given the new role of international brands director to head strategic brand management for all of SABMiller’s international brands including Miller Genuine Draft and Peroni. He will report to global marketing director Mark Sherrington.
Last week the company announced that its ailing Miller arm, acquired last year for $5.5bn (&£3.35bn), is likely to face falling sales for two or three more years. A spokesman for the company adds: “Following its acquisition of The Miller Brewing Company in July 2002, SABMiller has been reviewing how its international operations and marketing should be managed.”
The role of Pilsner Urquell international sales director Steve Wilkinson has also been axed.
PUI, which manages the brand promotion and export of Pilsner Urquell, has been merged into a new international structure that will market and develop all of SABMiller’s international brands.
Sales and exports for mainland Europe and the Middle East markets will be managed through SABMiller’s Czech Republic operation. Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee will handle the UK, Ireland, US and Australasia markets.
Mark Sherrington says: “Unfortunately the roles filled by Phil Plowman and Steve Wilkinson do not exist in the new structure.”
Last week the company announced pre-tax profits of $770m (&£470m), for the year to March, up 27 per cent compared with $606m (&£369m) for the same period last year.
