Scottish & Newcastle (S&N), Britain’s biggest brewer, has chosen the head of its Western Europe division to suceed Tony Froggatt as chief executive from the beginning of November.

The elevation today of John Dunsmore, 48, had been widely predicted although most analysts had expected the succession to take place next spring, when Mr Froggatt would have completed five years in the post.

Some observers claim there has been some shareholder pressure for an earlier handover in the light of tough trading in S&N’s core UK and French markets. “France, in particular, has proved a tough nut to crack over the years,” said one analyst. “Froggatt has done a good job but he never found a French solution.”

Sir Brian Stewart, chairman of the Kronenbourg and John Smith's owner, dismissed any suggestion that the process had been speeded up in any way, pointing to the boardroom shakeup in May, when Mr Dunsmore was promoted from head of S&N’s UK division, as a clear signal of succession planning.

“The natural time for a change was before the start of the new year rather than doing it in the middle of the year,” he said.

Asked whether Mr Froggatt had been pressurised into leaving earlier than he would have preferred, Sir Brian replied: “I don’t think so particularly. We were trying to come to a mutually agreed date.”

Sir Brian is believed to have been keen to ensure a new chief executive was firmly established in the role before announcing his own retirement. Analysts expect him to step down next year.

He confirmed that headhunters had looked at external as well as internal candidates for the post of chief executive.

Philip Bowman, the former Allied Domecq and Scottish Power chief executive, who sits on the S&N board, had been tipped in some quarters before his appointment this week to run Smiths, the engineering group.

The other main internal candidate mooted was John Nicolson, who in May was promoted to managing director for Eastern Europe, Asia and USA, including Baltic Beverages Holding, S&N's Russian joint venture with Carlsberg.

The company said that Mr Froggatt had agreed to “remain available” to the chairman and the board for a further three months beyond his departure on November 1 “to ensure a smooth transition”.

The Australian, a former former head of Europe, Middle East and Africa division at Seagram, the drinks group, was paid a basic salary of £775,000 last year, although his total remuneration was £1.67 million. The spokesman said he would be paid in line with the “appropriate contractual arrangements”.

Mr Froggatt, who was the first chief executive to be recruited from outside the company in almost 30 years, is widely credited with modernising S&N’s management approach, employing his lengthy consumer and marketing experience to good effect.

But the last few months of his tenure have been overshadowed by the continuing difficulties in France and persistent speculation of some kind of tie-up with Carlsberg, its Danish joint venture partner in Baltic Beverages Holding.

Mr Froggatt, who has dual Australian and British citizenship, is expected to return to Australia eventually, although Sir Brian said he was in no hurry to make any decision and would “give himself a bit of elbow room”.

He is a non-executive director of Brambles, the Australian pallet-maker, while his wife, Chris Bulmer, is on the board of Britvic and Sports Direct International.

Mr Dunsmore joined S&N in 1980 straight out of Manchester University on a graduate trainee scheme. He left five years later to become a drinks and leisure analyst at Wood Mackenzie, before joining Marston, Thompson & Evershed, the Midlands brewer, in 1990 as brewing and brands director.

He returned to the City in 1993 as head of UK equities at NatWest Securities — later Deutsche Bank — before rejoining S&N in 1996 as corporate development director. He was elevated to the board six years later as head of S&N’s UK business, overseeing the rationalisation of its brewery network.

Shares of S&N were off 8p at 617.5p in late afternoon trading as traders predicted that the appointment would make a deal with Carlsberg less likely.

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