At first glance Patrick Cescau is perhaps not the most likely candidate to carry the banner of the humble British cuppa into the United States. He is French.

Born in Paris, Mr Cescau, 59, the chief executive of Unilever, joined the company's French division 35 years ago and has never left. His career with the company has seen him hold senior positions in Germany, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Portugal, and in the US. Softly spoken, with a dry sense of humour, Mr Cescau has first-hand experience of the US tea market, serving as the president of Lipton from 1997-98.

Educated at ESSEC, the international business school, as well as taking an MBA with distinction from INSEAD, near Paris, Mr Cescau joined Unilever in 1973. In 1988 he became controller and deputy financial director and in May 1999 became financial director, a position he held until August 2000 when he led the integration of Bestfoods, the American company that brought famous US brands such as Hellmann's Mayonnaise into the group. He became director of the company's global foods division in 2001.

In October 2004 he was appointed chairman of Unilever plc and deputy chairman of Unilever NV, before stepping down from the roles when Unilever revamped its management in 2005, moving to a system with a single non-executive chairman and a single chief executive.

Despite his reputation as softly spoken and mild, he caused something of an explosion on his appointment, sacking, restructuring and selling businesses. He refused to take his predecessor's prestigious office on the top floor of the Blackfriars building, choosing to remain with the troops one floor below. The top floor was instead made into a restaurant.

Mr Cescau is said to have a mischievous sense of humour, but it is rarely given public display. He is described by colleagues as a strong lateral thinker who makes business decisions without emotion.

Married to Ursula, who is German born, the couple have two children. Outside of Unilever, Mr Cescau is a non-exeuctive director of Pearson and was appointed to the Legion d'Honneur in January 2005.

His interests include reading, golf and photography. He speaks Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia.

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