Two years is no time at all to be boss, but problems were piling up for Crew at Diageo

Two years is no time at all to be the boss of a FTSE 100 company - but Debra Crew's departure from drinks giant Diageo has felt possible for at least half of that period.

- Nils Pratley

The first problem for Crew, who has departed "by mutual agreement", was that she followed a genuine corporate superstar in the form of the late Ivan Menezes. His strategy of "premiumisation" - encouraging punters to drink more expensive stuff - did wonders for profit margins year after year. Any successor would have found it hard to match his record.

Second, Crew started with a thumping profits warning in November 2023 - a proper shock to investors - and explained it badly. The cause was post-Covid overstocking in Latin America, but it was never entirely clear how Diageo could have been so badly informed about the mismatch between stocks held by local distributors and how much tequila and whisky was being sold. As the former chief operating officer, Crew could hardly blame others.