Suresh Kumar Shah, has been appointed Chairman of Ceylon Tobacco Company PLC (CTC) with effect from 16 February 2021. His predecessor, William Francis Pegel, served as Chairman from August 2019 and stepped down from the position and announced his resignation from the Board as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 16 February 2021. The appointment of Suresh Shah as Chairman follows changes to CTC's board announced on 01 February, with the appointment of three new Non-Executive Directors Suresh Kumar Shah, Stuart Kidd and Rumana Rahman; bringing the number of Directors on CTC's board to eight. In light of these new appointments, CTC informed all relevant stakeholders that Suresh Kumar Shah, Stuart Kidd and Rumana Rahman do not hold any shares in the company. Renowned for his visionary leadership and commitment to good governance, Suresh Shah, has served as Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Sri Lanka's apex trade chamber, and is a past Chairman of the Employers Federation of Ceylon. He has also served as a Commissioner on the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka, and was a member of the Monetary Policy Consultative Committee with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and of the Council at the University of Moratuwa. British American Tobacco's (BAT) current Regional Head of Finance, Asia Pacific and Middle East, Stuart Kidd, joined BAT Australia in 2001. He has held various senior finance roles in New Zealand, Vietnam, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Japan. Prior to his appointment as Regional Head of Finance, he was Finance Director at BAT Japan from 2015. Mr. Kidd counts over 19 years of experience across the Group. Rumana Rahman is BAT's Regional Head of Talent, Culture and Inclusion for Asia Pacific and Middle East. She is the first South Asian female and first Bangladeshi to sit in the Regional Leadership Team and is also the first South Asian female leader of the top 120 Leaders of BAT.