C&C chief surprises with decision to quit

ONE MORE THING:THERE WAS much head- scratching this week at John Dunsmore's surprise decision to step down as chief executive of Clonmel-based drinks group C&C at the end of this year.

It took everyone by surprise and it pushed the share price down 7 per cent. Dunsmore is said to be stepping down for personal reasons.

He is handing over the baton to finance chief Stephen Glancy, with whom he has worked for the past 12 years both at Scottish Newcastle and C&C.

Initially, rumours of a split at board level emerged. On a media call yesterday, Glancy scotched any notion of a rift.

He said there wasn’t a “cigarette paper” between the two in relation to the strategy and future direction.

Maybe Dunsmore has decided it was time to move on from C&C. When he joined in late 2008, his deal included a lucrative share scheme that vests at the end of this year.

He will make a tidy sum from the share scheme although it should be recognised that he and Glancy have turned CC around in the past three years, stabilising the Bulmers and Magners cider businesses, acquiring Tennants lager and Gaymers cider and branching out into exports.

Another theory was doing the rounds among analysts and traders in London yesterday – that Dunsmore was lining up a role with Diageo, possibly to set up a cider division for the drinks giant. It’s an obvious gap in its portfolio. Such a move could conceivably involve Dunsmore acquiring C&C down the road.

But having been a chief executive, would Dunsmore want to return to being effectively a paid employee?

Possibly not. The alternative view is that he might be considering a move to a private equity group. This would suit his profile as a deal maker and turnaround specialist.

Either way, it’s hard to imagine that he doesn’t have something else lined up.