Compass points way to new chairman

Paul Walsh, who is stepping down after 13 years as chief executive of Diageo, will join the board of the world’s biggest catering company in January before taking on the role currently held by Sir Roy Gardner a month later.

The chairman’s position at Compass is one of a number of high-profile vacancies in the FTSE 100 Index, with the others being posts at Lloyds Banking Group, WPP, Centrica and GlaxoSmithKline.

Under his watch at Diageo, the company’s market value has grown by around £30bn, helped by deals such as the Seagram drinks empire and other acquisitions in Turkey, Brazil, India and China.

Sir Ian Robinson, the senior independent director at Compass, said: “His experience leading one of the UK’s largest international companies through a period of significant global expansion makes him an excellent choi- ce.”

Ivan Menezes will take over the position of chief executive at Diageo from next month, although Mr Walsh will remain for a year-long transition period.

Mr Walsh began his career with Grand Metropolitan in 1982. The drinks company merged with Guinness in 1997 to create Diageo.

Surrey-based Compass, which handles catering at major sporting events such as Wimbledon and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, generated profits of £1.1bn in the year to last September.