A renowned CEO, Gareth Davis is best known for his tenure as the Chief Executive of Imperial Tobacco. Sitting at the top of the fourth-largest tobacco company in the world, Gareth managed the firm for an impressive 38 years. Gareth was pivotal to the success of the tobacco firm during his time as CEO, overseeing key change and working through the turbulent time of when smoking was deemed unsafe. Alongside his tenure as CEO, Gareth has also held several other high calibre roles that have fostered his reputation as a businessman. He has also formerly served as Chairman of Wolseley plc, a plumbing and heating distributor, and Chairman of William Hill the bookmakers.
Throughout his successful career, Gareth has honed his skills in various areas of business. He is knowledgeable in finance, acquisitions, consumerism, cultural integration and corporate transformation. His most notable achievement is credited to be his transformation of Imperial Tobacco, cultivating it into the lowest cost and most efficient tobacco company in the world. He also led the company to become the largest listing on the London Stock Exchange and saw turnover rise to £45 million. Strategically minded, Gareth is able to captivate audiences with his tales of forward-thinking and progressive measures to ensure company growth.
Having chaired FTSE 100 companies, Gareth is widely regarded as an industry-leading expert. Thriving at the forefront of the fast-paced world of business, Gareth inspires budding entrepreneurs and managers to follow in his footsteps and pioneer their sectors. In reward of his commitment to business, the Harvard Business Review named Gareth the 13th Best Performing CEO of All Time. Most recently, in 2020, Gareth was appointed as the Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of M&C Saatchi, a testament to his prowess as a businessman.
Highly sought as a keynote speaker, Gareth delivers authoritatively on countless aspects of business. Managing across a diverse array of industries, Gareth tells a unique tale of leading a tobacco company, a plumbing supplier and a bookmaker. Passionate, authentic and experienced, Gareth Davis is the perfect speaker to bring understanding to the big wide world of business.
