As the tobacco industry begins to boom once again, CEO Gareth Davis is stepping down at Imperial Tobacco and leaving the role to his former chief operations officer Alison Cooper. With her strong finance background, ICAEW-qualified Cooper has taken a more unusual path to the top, defying the typical FD-to-CEO strategy. But how has she done it?

What’s happened?
Cooper has been with the group since 1999 and has held a range of senior roles including director of finance and planning before moving out of finance, becoming regional director western Europe and corporate development director.

Her background as COO will have broadened her knowledge of the tobacco industry and given her great strategic insight into the workings of the market. And even in her previous role at PwC she was heavily involved with mergers and acquisitions for the tobacco giant ­ a key strategy for Imperial Tobacco going forward.

With her widely reported love of cigars, Cooper seems like a logical choice. She took on the role of COO in March 2009, responsible for sales and marketing, manufacturing, the cigar business and corporate development. The role included strategic planning, business development and corporate affairs ­ she was also responsible for the integration of Altadis.

The success of the company has not been stubbed out by the smoking ban. On the contrary, the “staycation” culture of the recession has meant that more people are buying their cigarettes in the UK than duty free ­ the company’s full-year pre-tax profits climbed 52% to £945m, and the investors continue to be happy, with a 2% rise in shares.

What happens next?
As a successful 2009 comes to a close, Cooper will be looking to use her expertise in M&A to expand the company further. The latest Credit Suisse’s analyst report shows that emerging markets account for 20% of the industry, so no doubt Imperial will be looking to grab their slice.

This will be particularly important in Africa (for long-term growth) and the Middle East (where competitors hold the majority of the market share), say the analysts. The USA is also looking like a positive growth area ­ despite short-term volume uncertainty, Imperial will be well-positioned to grab share from small operators facing rising regulatory costs in the future.

The world will watch as she joins only four other female CEOs of Britain's top 100 companies. Her every move will be under scrutiny.

Her new pay package (Davis was paid £3.9m last year) should prevent Cooper’s passion for the business from burning out, and failing this, Davis will be alongside her for the next six months to keep her on the straight and narrow. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.