Having spearheaded the growth of brands such as Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell and St Stefanus, Haigh will be succeeded by Asahi UK sales director, Tim Clay.

Clay has overseen Asahi UK operations since 2011 and was said to be instrumental in the sale of its Woking-based business from SABMiller to Asahi Group Holdings in 2016.

The company says during his tenure, the UK business has achieved record revenues and profits year-on-year. Overseeing the Woking based business for more than six and a half years Clay led initiatives such as The House of Peroni as well as innovations such as Peroni Piccola, Peroni Gluten Free and Peroni Ambra.

Clay joined the UK business as sales director in 2013 and, it has been reported, has consistently delivered outstanding year-on-year revenue growth.

This is said to have been achieved through improved customer engagement and enhancement of the sales function, through people development and the adoption of leading-edge sales tools.  Prior to joining Asahi UK, Tim was the UK on-trade and wholesale sales director at ABInbev.