About us
We are the world's second largest quoted tobacco group by global market share, with brands sold in around 180 markets.
With more than 200 brands in our portfolio, we make the cigarette chosen by one in eight of the world's one billion adult smokers. We hold robust market positions in each of our regions and have leadership in more than 50 markets. In 2011, our subsidiary companies sold 705 billion cigarettes.
In the same year, our subsidiaries enabled governments worldwide to gather more than £30 billion in taxes, including excise duty on our products, almost nine times the Group’s profit after tax.
We have sustained a significant global presence for over 100 years. Our business was founded in 1902 and by 1912 had become one of the world’s top dozen companies by market capitalisation.
We have 46 cigarette factories in 39 countries. Eight of these plus one separate plant also make either cigarillos, roll your own or pipe tobacco. We also have a factory making smokeless snus.
We employ more than 55,000 people worldwide. Our workforce is strongly multi-cultural and we have a devolved structure, with each local company having wide freedom of action and responsibility for its operations. Decisions are made as close as possible to the local stakeholders of each business, within a framework of principles, standards, policies, strategies and delegated authorities.
More about British American Tobacco
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We have 46 cigarette factories in 39 countries. Eight of these plus one separate plant also make either cigarillos, roll your own or pipe tobacco. We also have a factory making smokeless snus.
We employ more than 55,000 people worldwide. Our workforce is strongly multi-cultural and we have a devolved structure, with each local company having wide freedom of action and responsibility for its operations. Decisions are made as close as possible to the local stakeholders of each business, within a framework of principles, standards, policies, strategies and delegated authorities.
We believe that because our products pose risks to health, it is all the more important that our business is managed responsibly. Responsibility is integral to our strategy and through dialogue with our stakeholders, we are working to pursue our commercial objectives in ways consistent with changing expectations of a modern tobacco business.
We are the only international tobacco group with a significant interest in tobacco leaf growing, working with thousands of farmers internationally. Our companies run leaf programmes providing direct agronomy support to farmers if it is not otherwise available, covering all aspects of crop production and environmental best practice - in 2011 our companies ran these in 19 countries. The Group purchased approximately 440,000 tonnes of leaf in 2011, grown by around 200,000 farmers.
How our employees feel about working here is very important to us. We carry out a regular global employee opinion survey called Your Voice to give our people a secure and confidential way to tell us exactly what they think about working at British American Tobacco.
Read more about our latest employee opinion survey 
in our 2011 Sustainability Report.
British American Tobacco is the world’s most international tobacco group, successfully pursuing a consistent strategy that is building long term shareholder value.
The four building blocks of our strategy are Growth, Productivity, developing a Winning Organisation and Responsibility. Each is interdependent and essential for delivering profit growth and long term business sustainability.
"Our ambitious vision of achieving leadership of our industry remains as relevant as ever. We still have much to do to deliver our vision but our strategy for growth and our increasing competitiveness mean we are well placed to succeed." Nicandro Durante, Chief Executive, British American Tobacco.
Although our products pose risks to health and our industry can be seen as controversial, our products are legal, calls for prohibition are exceptionally rare and about a billion adults globally choose to smoke. We work continuously to manufacture and sell our products responsibly.
Through more than 100 years of operations, we have built a strong international reputation for high quality tobacco brands to meet consumers’ diverse preferences.
Today the global tobacco industry produces around 5.5 trillion cigarettes a year.
The biggest single market is China, where the industry is state-owned, with some 350 million smokers who account for more than 40 per cent of the global total.
Four international tobacco companies - British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco and Phillip Morris International - account for some 45 per cent of the global market, or around three-quarters of the market outside China. We estimate our share of the global tobacco market to be around 13 per cent.
The illicit trade in tobacco products is a serious problem in many countries – meaning that up to 12 per cent of global volume is traded on the black market.
Tobacco companies' global market share
We are committed to good corporate governance and to achieving our business objectives in a manner which is responsible and consistent with our beliefs in honesty, transparency and accountability. We regard corporate governance not simply as an exercise in compliance, but as a key element underpinning the sustainable, long-term growth of our business.
These principles are reflected in our Standards of Business Conduct, which demonstrate our commitment to good corporate behaviour. They have been in place for many years, and continue to be kept under review in order to ensure that they remain at the forefront of best business practice. Every Group company and every employee worldwide is expected to live up to them.
In addition, the principles set out within our Statement of Business Principles are designed to help meet the expectations placed on us by our various stakeholders, and they form the basis on which we expect our business to be run in terms of responsibility.
The principal governance rules applying to UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange are contained in the UK Corporate Governance Code, which can be found on the Financial Reporting Council's website.
As required by the Code, the Corporate Governance Statement in our Annual Report describes how we apply its Principles and provides our formal report on compliance with its Provisions.
Our voluntary report on compliance with the Combined Code on Corporate Governance
In the interests of further transparency, we have prepared a report which summarises our approach on corporate governance by reference to each Principle and Provision of the Combined Code. It also addresses the Company's practices by reference to the relevant sections of the new UK Corporate Governance Code.
Report on Compliance with the Combined Code on Corporate Governance - March 2012 (109 kb) 
Our voluntary statement on UK and US corporate governance
British American Tobacco p.l.c. (the ‘Company’) has unlisted trading privileges for its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on NYSE Amex Equities. None of its securities are listed on any United States securities exchange or registered pursuant to the securities laws of the United States.
As a result, the Company is subject to neither the NYSE Amex Equities listing standards nor the corporate governance rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
Nevertheless, the Board has chosen, in the interests of good governance, to make a voluntary statement explaining the principal differences and common areas between the Company’s corporate governance practices and those that would be required if the Company were subject to those rules.
Voluntary Statement on UK and US Corporate Governance - March 2012 (74 kb) 
- Consumer led: The most successful tobacco company will be decided by the consumer. To win, we must win the consumer. We are consumer led.
- National battlefields: Our 'battlefields' are national. This is where our consumers, trade partners, stakeholders and people are. This is where we sell cigarettes, generate cash and develop talent. This is where our brands live or die. This is British American Tobacco.
- Globally aligned: We are a global business with a global vision. We have global strategies and hard-won global scale. We must use and leverage these in order to win against global competition. To do so, requires global cohesion and discipline. A matrix organisation is the best means to ensure this. We recognise that there is a ‘tension’ in a matrix organisation. This is as it should be: business needs different viewpoints to build conviction and purpose.
- Diverse teams: We believe in the value of teams and diversity within those teams. We cherish individuality in the pursuit of the team goal. We believe individual creativity and contribution can and must flourish for us to succeed.
- Good leaders: People remember their leaders. The ones who had time for them, listened to them, coached them, developed them, trusted them. The leaders who helped make them the success that they are. We like good leaders. They tend to be very successful themselves. Our leaders bring our beliefs to life. We must all be leaders.
- Fun and welcoming: We like working with our colleagues and we trust them to deliver. They're smart, keen to make a good contribution and fun to be with. They are what makes British American Tobacco so special. We are a welcoming and hospitable organisation. We want people to enjoy their experience with us. People feel at home here.
- Fit to fight: Our competitors are powerful and determined. We value our organisational intimacy and family-feel, yet recognise we must be no less determined or demanding of ourselves. To head the industry will take more than thought-leadership and scale, we must be fit for the fight ahead, we must be quick and agile. We must each take ownership for our actions.
- Consciously responsible: We act responsibly and transparently. Not because we have to, but because we want to. We take comfort and pride in knowing that we will do the right thing and behave in the right way. We accept the costs this will incur.
