SABMiller appoints group brand development chief

SABMiller, the US brewer, has appointed Helen Pyman as group marketing development director. She will report to group marketing director Nick Fell, who joined last month.

Pyman will be responsible for building the marketing capability and resources of the group. She will work closely with Fell, the former president of global commercial strategy at Cadbury Schweppes, who replaced former group marketing director Mark Sherrington.

She joins the brewery from international consultancy Brand Learning Partners, which is based in the Czech Republic, where she was marketing capability director. Previously she was at Kraft Foods for 13 years and held a variety of roles including global marketing training and development and also marketing director for the Czech and Slovak Republics.

SABMiller was formed in 2002 by the $5.6bn (&£3bn) purchase by South African Breweries of Miller Brewing Company, the second-biggest brewery in the US by volume. The company is not particularly strong in the UK, with its four main beer brands, including Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Miller Genuine Draft, accounting for less than 1% of the market by volume.

Last year it created Miller Brands UK in a bid to win a greater share of the UK premium lager market. Jean-Pierre van Lin, former managing director for Miller Brewing International in the UK and Ireland, was appointed UK marketing director with a &£30m marketing budget.