Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
BAT Korea has new CEO
By Lee Hyo-sik
Erik Stoel
By Lee Hyo-sik
British America Tobacco Korea (BAT Korea) said Tuesday that it has promoted marketing director Erik Stoel to CEO, who will replace outgoing Guy Meldrum on Jan. 1, 2016.
Stoel, born in the Netherlands, has been marketing director at BAT Korea for the past three years. He has made a substantial contribution to the tobacco maker by turning its flagship brand Dunhill into one of the country’s best selling brands, the company said.
Stoel has also successfully introduced a new sales and distribution structure, enabling BAT Korea to become the first multinational fast-moving consumer goods maker in Korea to adopt such a system.
“I am honored to have been given the opportunity to continue working with such an outstanding group of leaders here in BAT Korea,” Stoel said. “As BAT Korea is a strategically important market for the BAT Group, we will make sure that we continue our journey for growth by providing Korean consumers with innovative and high quality products that meet with their trendy preferences.
He said the company will try to ship more cigarette products abroad from its plant in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. “Above all, BAT Korea will continue to contribute to the growth of the Korean economy.”
Stoel has been working for BAT since 1995 and has held a variety of senior roles covering numerous markets in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He was marketing director at BAT Malaysia before joining BAT Korea in 2012.
He majored in marketing at the HEAO Groningen in the Netherlands, a higher educational institution for those studying economics and business-related subjects, and earned a master’s degree in business administration in 1994 from Northumbria University in Britain.
Founded in 1902, BAT Group is an international tobacco company that operates in approximately 200 different countries. BAT Korea, founded in 1990, offers its key brands including Dunhill, Rothmans, KENT and Vogue. The company employs about 600 people and operates a manufacturing facility in Sacheon.