Marie Polet

Biography

Born on 5 December 1954, in Eupen, Belgium, Belgian nationality. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Marie Polet joined British American Tobacco (BAT), the world’s second largest tobacco company. She worked in marketing before being promoted to Corporate Management positions. She was a Managing Director of British American Tobacco Belgium until July 2008. She also spent a lot of time abroad for the BAT group, in the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, before being appointed Head of Marketing for Europe in London. After she successfully oversaw the merger between BAT and STC (cigars) in Belgium, the multinational tasked her with managing the takeover of the Scandinavian tobacco market leader. She was as such made General Manager Denmark, working in Copenhagen until January 2010. She was then promoted to Group Head of Strategy & Planning at the group’s head office in London. From 1 October 2011 to 16 January 2015, she served as Chairwoman & CEO of Imperial Tobacco Canada, which has its head office in Montreal. Since then she has been Group Director Strategy, Planning and Insights in London. She has been a Director of Groupe Bruxelles Lambert since 2015. 

Research Interest

General Science