East African Breweries Limited (EABL) has named a new boss to take over from Charles Ireland who has been at the helm of the brewer for three years.

The EABL board announced that Mr Andrew Cowan, a British national who has been serving as an alternate director to Nick Blasquez at the brewer's boardroom, will be taking over as the new Managing Director with effect from July 28.

Ireland was appointed EABL MD on April 1, 2013. The brewer's parent company Diageo, which controls a 50.02 per cent stake in the company has a free hand in appointing top executives and it has been replacing the bosses after three years.

The board described Cowan as consummate business leader, with a wide range of commercial and strategic management experience spanning over 20 years in the First Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector and is currently the Country Director for Diageo Great Britain (GB).

"Mr Cowan's experience straddles corporate leadership, strategy development, operational management as well as sales and marketing," the firm said in a statement sent to newsrooms.

He joined Diageo in 2008 as Commercial Director for Northern Ireland and was appointed to the role of Commercial Director in the Republic of Ireland a year later.

He returned to Great Britain in 2011 and has led the Diageo commercial business since then. Before joining Diageo, Andrew had a number of senior roles in the FMCG industry, including positions held at GlaxoSmithKline and Boots Plc.

Mr Ireland is taking up a new role in Diageo's global business as General Manager Great Britain, Ireland and France.

"We are certainly pleased to have Mr. Cowan at EABL, as an established global business leader in the FMCG business. We see him bringing in a lot of expertise and commercial leadership which will be a good fit for the business. This will help us consolidate on the good progress and solid foundation that we have built over the years, to realise our ambition of becoming the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer Products Company on the continent," EABL Group Board Chairman Charles Muchene said.

Subsequently, Mr Muchene thanked Mr Ireland for his immense contribution to EABL during his 3-year stint at the helm.

"During Mr Ireland's time, EABL has become one of the best performing markets in Diageo and the fastest growing market for Guinness. Sustainable development performance has also significantly improved, as evidenced by local material sourcing which increased from 45 per cent to over 80 per cent, delivering economic benefits for EABL and over 32,000 East African farmers," the firm said in the statement.

The beer maker reported a 40 per cent rise in profit after tax for the full year ending June 30, 2015 to Sh9.5 billion up from the Sh6.8 billion in 2014.

"EABL has been recognised number 2 'best place to work' in Africa by Deloitte and a great deal of work has gone into the environment stewardship agenda," it added.

One of Ireland's regime's lowest moments was when the brewer was accused of racial bias and mistreatment of local staff.

He exits the company at a time when the company is facing pressure from its distributors who want to increase their commissions three times from the current four per cent to as high as 12 per cent of the recommended retail price in what may push up the prices of its products.
The beer maker has also removed a clause in their contracts that prevent their merchants from dealing with rival firms.