AFTER four-and-a-half years as chief executive of Scottish & Newcastle, Tony Froggatt is calling time on his career at Britain’s biggest brewer.

Froggatt, 59, an Australian, has told chairman Sir Brian Stewart that he intends to stand down from S&N in the first half of next year.

Three internal candidates are the favourites to succeed him. They are John Nicolson, managing director of eastern Europe, Asia and America; John Dunsmore, head of western Europe; and Ian McHoul, the finance director.

Stewart is also interviewing headhunters to conduct an external search. It is thought the chairman is keen to make the appointment before the end of the year so Froggatt’s successor can work alongside him before he departs.

Froggatt, whose hobby is collecting autographs, has been chief executive of S&N since 2003 and has overseen a significant expansion of the group’s overseas presence, taking the company into several important emerging markets.

More recently he has had to manage a period of intense bid speculation surrounding the group, during which rumours of plots from rivals including Carlsberg and SAB Miller have unsettled the share price.

He has worked hard to develop the group’s presence in Russia and the Baltic states through the company’s five-year-old joint venture with Carlsberg in the region, BBH. The venture has expanded beyond Russia and the Baltics into Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

It is this partnership with Carlsberg that is regarded as S&N’s key asset and one of the main reasons why the Danish company is reportedly so keen to pursue a takeover of S&N.

Froggatt, who started his career at Gillette, also led the group’s purchase of a stake in India’s United Breweries, maker of Kingfisher lager, and has taken the group into China.

At home he made unpopular decisions, notably the closure of the breweries in Edinburgh after 225 years and the relocation of the production of Newcastle Brown Ale to the other side of the river Tyne in Gateshead.

But he also bolstered S&N’s presence in its domestic market. In April last year the company acquired the rights to the Foster’s brand in Europe, which it had previously brewed under licence.

This has given S&N greater freedom to develop the business, introducing new variants such as Foster’s Twist.

However, the company still has challenges to face, not least that beer consumption in its home market is in long-term decline. It is this problem that has led S&N to concentrate on emerging markets.

The fact that the UK is considered a mature market is a concern for industry rivals looking for consolidation. In addition, the introduction of the smoking ban is also likely to cause problems, at least in the short term.

The shares closed at 634½p on Friday, giving the group a value of £6 billion.

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