Devesh Dutt Email & Phone Number

London, Gb

London, Gb

London, Gb

The Indian Ocean region consists of 2 in-market companies in the Seychelles and Reunion, with a turnover of over £50m and a headcount of approximately 200. I was promoted to Finance Director and Board member of Seychelles Breweries Ltd, a total beverage business with £30m+ turnover, listed on the MERJ Stock Exchange (54% of the business being owned by Diageo). I was also appointed as Director and Board member of Diageo Reunion SA, a £20m turnover international premium spirits business encompassing 3rd party businesses in Mauritius, Madagascar and Mayotte. During this period, I drove significant growth within the market finance team by driving change from transactional to transformational roles within the team, and embedding clarity and ownership of deliverables across finance, including with Global Business Operations (GBO) teams. In addition, I drove significant market share growth of +7ppt and performance of the business during the Covid-19 pandemic despite 70% devaluation in currency, shrinking consumption and zero tourism at the time, resulting in significant headwinds in relation to cost of operations. I delivered this while taking double-digit price increases over this period, and innovating new formats and categories where the business hadn’t played before. This resulted in the business coming out of the pandemic stronger than it was prior to the crisis. I was also instrumental in generating annual productivity savings of over £1.2m and led the resolution of legacy issues of mis-accounting of customer contracts for Advertising & Promotions, and Trade Investment in Reunion. Most notably, I co-led the strategy and execution of the business model for Reunion and Mauritius.

London, Gb

Guinness Ghana has a turnover of £140m+ and is listed on Ghana Stock Exchange. It has 2 brewery sites in producing beers, non-alcoholic brews and spirits, and imports international premium spirits. I led the financial controllership transition to GBO in Nairobi for Ghana, with ownership for leading a 15 member team across Kenya and Ghana. My remit involved overseeing all aspects of the business including STP, RTR, Tax, Treasury, Supply and Inventory Finance, Business Performance Management (BPM) and statutory requirements, whilst also managing open tax audits with the Ghana Revenue Authority. Most notably, I delivered training, coaching, mentoring and development to make Ghana’s Financial Control team to be seen as best in class across fully integrated markets in Africa. I also led the implementation of the Africa Treasury Strategy to streamline relationships with banks and achieved a satisfactory global audit risk rating in the first full scope audit, following transition to GBO.

London, Gb

Guinness Ghana Breweries is the leading total beverage business in Ghana, offering an outstanding collection of brands across categories including beer, stout and spirits. It is listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. In my capacity as Financial Controller, I managed a team of 17 finance professionals across 2 brewery sites in Accra and Kumasi, with ownership for Reporting and Source to Pay, Supply and Inventory Finance, Tax and Treasury, and BPM. My remit involved delivering all statutory reporting requirements, preparing annual results, leading the transition of external auditors from KPMG to PWC, and leading tax audits and reviews conducted by the Ghana Revenue Authority.Most notably, I achieved Year on Year double digit improvement in value survey scores in areas of Employee Engagement, Performance Enablement and Manager Effectiveness Index. I delivered improvements across data quality scores to achieve Green status, improved payment to terms to over 95% and enhanced month-end process and performance visibility. In addition, I developed relationships with 7 global and local banks to deliver impressive 9ppt reduction in interest rates on overdrafts and lease facilities, and I successfully managed a £30m rights issue in the region. I was also instrumental in implementing business partnering on marketing, promotions and non-staff spend, and introducing Zero-based budgeting.

London, Gb

During this period, I was tasked with developing and leading the execution of the business case for inorganic beer play in Ethiopia, which involved working with McKinsey, a potential local partner and key stakeholders including the Africa Regional General Manager and Finance Director.

London, Gb

Diageo Ethiopia had a turnover of over £50m and was split into Meta Abo Brewery (acquired from the Ethiopian government in 2012) and a 3rd party Trade Representing Office spirits business. During this period, I served as the second in command to the Market Finance Director, with ownership for business partnering with the Market General Manager, Sales, Marketing, Route to Consumer and Supply Director. I was accountable for leading execution of the Annual Operating Plan (AOP) and Joined up Business Plan (JUBP), driving Market BPM across Africa region, leading month end close process including manual upload to BFC software, directing feasibility reporting and liaising with local nationalised banks to ensure business funding needs were met. I partnered with the CC&E Director regarding M&E policy and implementation, Statement of Authorities and Finance Risk Footprint, and CARM design, assessment and testing for marketing and sales. I was instrumental in leading the successful SBR with Diageo CEO, which was a pioneering, 1st of its kind initiative for Ethiopia; gaining full support for the market strategy, and delivered supply chain savings of £1.8m and £2.6m over 2 consecutive years, which was invested to drive future operational growth.

London, Gb

Diageo Western Europe has a turnover of £2bn+ and covered all markets in Europe, excluding Russia and Turkey. The spirits portfolio had a turnover of £450m+ including Vodka, Rums, Gins and Tequila. As Spirits Decision Support Manager, I was a key member of the Spirits leadership team, with ownership for business partnering with Category and Sub-Category Directors, and leading performance management for spirits and whiskey category. During this period, I co-led the creation of JUBP and BPM for Western Europe, led gross margin expansion work on spirits brands across Western Europe and created a robust framework for the Category team to drive spirits margin through price, and delivering it as a 1st for Captain Morgan, which was subsequently applied across other brands.

London, Gb

Diageo Northern Europe had a turnover of £400m+ and was formed as a ‘Beat the Competition’ opportunity to deliver growth through opportunities in countries including Germany and France. In my capacity as BPM and Decision Support Manager, I reported to the Hub Finance Director, and led performance management for Northern Europe by offering key insights to the Hub MD and Marketing Director, with ownership for setting up and leading BPM processes and co-leading the Northern Europe strategy with the Finance Director. Most notably, I led Hub planning on a strategic and operational level, which enabled Europe to commit double digit growth in investment for Northern Europe. I also identified £2m in cost savings by aligning procurement, marketing and finance functions. In addition, I established and drove performance management to guide executive decision making in areas including new pricing for malts in Benelux which delivered £1m in additional revenue.

London, Gb

The single malts portfolio had an annual turnover of £150m+ covering offerings from the 28 malt distilleries including the Classic Malt selection across the globe. I was accountable for leading strategy planning and insight generation to ensure achievement of objectives in line with brand strategy, shaping annual allocation and leading pricing workstream. My remit involved business partnering with the Global Brand Director regarding strategic planning and regional president decks for presentation to the Diageo Executive, whilst also leading long term forecasting and driving the 5-year Malts Participation strategy and led BPM process. Most notably, I exceeded the gross margin target of £2.5m in incremental margin by eliminating inconsistencies across logistics and supply and delivered £5m+ NSV through effective engagement between cross-functional teams and mitigation of risks to plan by utilising reallocation opportunities. I was also instrumental in reducing global market exposure from £500k to £100k by driving change in control and compliance areas for Heritage.

London, Gb

Oil & Gas logistics group with a turnover of 750m+ offering a complete array of facilities and services for oil and gas industry operators in the sub-Saharan West African region. Achievements:• Closely worked with the Finance Director in successfully getting the $150m syndication, a first for the Group. • Maintained excellent relationship with bankers, substantially reducing the commitment fees liability

London, Gb

Acma, Business Strategy, Management Accounting

Aca, Tax, Financial Management, Accounts

Bachelors Of Commerce

A Levels, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, English, Hindi