Former Tesco boss Sir Dave Lewis is to become the new chief executive of Diageo, the struggling FTSE 100 drinks giant.

The world’s largest spirits maker, which counts Guinness and Johnnie Walker whisky among its stable of brands, said he would assume the role in January.

The search for a new boss began in July when Debra Crew was effectively ousted after two years in charge.

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The company’s share price fell 40% during her tenure as the industry grappled a drastic decline in the number of people drinking at home following the COVID pandemic and, more recently, the US trade war.

A planned fightback by Ms Crew was seen by investors as failing to go far enough.

Sir Dave led a six-year turnaround of Tesco, the UK’s biggest retailer, from 2014.

He earned the nickname ‘Drastic Dave’ in his previous role at Unilever, the consumer goods giant, where he was credited with achieving similar success through cost-cutting and targeted marketing.

Diageo’s market positions have fared better than rivals during the downturn but its shares are still hovering around lows not seen for a decade.

Only last week, the company downgraded its sales and profit outlook for next year.

Diageo chair John Manzoni told investors: “The Board unanimously felt that Dave has both the extensive CEO experience, and the proven leadership skills in building and marketing world-leading brands, that is right for Diageo at this time.”

Sir Dave said of the task facing him: “Diageo is a world leading business with a portfolio of very strong brands, and I am delighted to be joining the team.

“The market faces some headwinds but there are also significant opportunities. I look forward to working with the team to face these challenges and realise some of the opportunities in a way which creates shareholder value.”

Diageo shares were 7% up on news of the appointment.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, responded: “Lewis brings deep experience in consumer brands from his time leading Tesco and decades at Unilever, though he lacks direct exposure to the spirits industry.

“Investors may welcome his strong marketing pedigree, but any major strategic reset will take time, leaving near-term focus on navigating tough trading conditions.”

The unravelling of the Barclay family’s business empire will continue this week when Carlyle, the US-based investment giant, formally takes control of The Very Group, one of Britain’s biggest online retailers.

Sky News has learnt that the company, which boasts annual revenues of over £2bn and is chaired by Nadhim Zahawi, the former Conservative chancellor, will announce on Monday that Carlyle has become its controlling shareholder.

IMI, the Abu Dhabi-based media group which has been part of efforts to take control of The Daily Telegraph since 2023, will remain a lender to The Very Group.

Sources said the company’s directors had held a board meeting on Sunday to ratify the changes.

The transaction brings to an end more than 20 years of the Barclay family’s involvement with the business, which was known as Littlewoods when it last changed hands in 2002 in a £750m deal.

Nasdaq-listed Carlyle injected several hundred million pounds into Very Group’s capital structure, paving the way for it to take ownership control under the terms of the financing.

Sources said the change of control would provide the online retailer with a stronger capital base and greater financial flexibility to support a concerted growth effort.

Previously known as Shop Direct, Very Group employs thousands of people, and sells general merchandise under the Very and Littlewoods brands, encompassing electrical goods, homewares, fashion and toys.

It has 4.4million customers and operates a major consumer finance business to help shoppers manage their payments.

Mr Zahawi was appointed as the company’s chairman last year, days after he announced that he was standing down as the MP for Stratford-on-Avon at the July 2024 general election.

He replaced Aidan Barclay, a senior member of the family which has owned the business for 23 years.

In its latest full-year results, group chief executive Robbie Feather announced a 16% increase in adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to £307m.

Carlyle’s move to take control of Very Group was revealed by Sky News in the summer.

Earlier this year, the company borrowed a further £600m from Arini, a Mayfair-based fund, as it sought to stave off a cash crunch and buy itself breathing space.

The Barclay family drew up plans to hire bankers to run an auction of Very Group earlier this year, but a process was never formally launched.

Retail industry insiders have long speculated that the business was likely to be valued in the region of £2.5bn – below the valuation which the Barclay family was holding out for in an auction which took place several years ago.

The Barclays, who used to own London’s Ritz hotel, have already lost control of other corporate assets including the Yodel parcel delivery service, as well as the Telegraph newspapers.

Carlyle, which declined to comment, could hold onto the business for a significant period before looking to offload it.

Very Group also declined to comment on Sunday.

Sir Alan Bates has told Sky News that the government’s new Capture Redress Scheme is “half-baked”.

The Post Office scandal campaigner, who may also be a victim of Capture, accused officials of not learning lessons from previous compensation failures.

Capture was a piece of faulty computer software used in about 2,500 branches between 1992 and 1999 before the infamous Horizon scandal.

Many sub-postmasters made up potentially false accounting shortfalls from their own pocket, with dozens, at least, convicted of stealing.

Sir Alan welcomed the launch of the first ever Capture Redress Scheme last week “in general”.

However, he added: “It does seem to have gone off half-baked with almost none of the lessons that should have been learnt from the failures of the other Postmaster Schemes having been applied when compiling it.”

Sir Alan Bates, who has settled his redress claim with the government in connection with Horizon, also confirmed he may have been a victim of Capture.

He said: “I have documentation which shows that a PC running Capture was part of the inventory when we purchased our sub-post office and I know it was used until it was replaced by the infamous Horizon system toward the end of 2000.”

Despite this, Sir Alan said that – with the information he has about the scheme and making a claim – “it does seem I may not be able submit one”.

Under the current rules, it appears claimants must submit a fully itemised claim before the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) will decide if they qualify – a process Sir Alan described as “mad”.

“We could spend a year compiling a claim only for the DBT to say we weren’t eligible in the first place.”

He called for a two-stage process: first to confirm eligibility, then to allow victims to build their case with legal support – a model he says would save time, money and avoid unnecessary legal costs.

The revelation that Sir Alan may have been a Capture victim – and didn’t realise until later on – raises fresh concerns about how many others remain unaware.

In a statement to Sky News, a government spokesperson said: “After over two decades of fighting for justice, victims will finally receive redress for being impacted by the Capture software and we pay tribute to all of those who have worked to expose this scandal.

“All eligible applicants will receive an interim payment of £10,000. In exceptional circumstances, the independent panel can award above £300,000, which is not a cap.

“We have been in contact with Sir Alan’s legal representative and stand ready to provide further information to help all claimants.”

It comes as documents seen by Sky News suggest that the Post Office knew about faults in Capture computer software before it was rolled out in 1992.

Notes from a meeting of “the Capture steering group” held in February – months before the system was introduced to branches – described files as being “corrupted”.

It highlighted that: “If the power was switched off when a file was open it would be corrupted. In this situation data should be checked and reinput.”

Another fault mentioned in the meeting notes was if “part of the system was closed early, to produce client summaries any additional transactions might not be captured for that day”.

“If a high error rate was detected the software would need to be reworked.”

A document called “Capture Troubleshooting Guide” from April 1993 – over a year after the steering group noted faults – again described “corrupt data” such as incorrect transaction values.

It concluded that the “cause” of this was “switching off the computer or a power cut (even if only for a few seconds) whilst in the Capture programme”.

It also put forward instructions to remedy the fault.

Rupert Lloyd-Thomas, campaigner for Capture victims, said: “The Post Office knew … in 1992, long before the launch, that Capture could be zapped by a power cut.

“They did nothing about it.”

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Steve Marston, who was convicted of stealing from his Post Office branch in 1998 after using Capture, said the information “didn’t come as any surprise”.

“They’ve known since the very beginning it should never have been released,” he added.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We have been very concerned about the reported problems relating to the use of the Capture software and are sincerely sorry for past failings that have caused suffering to postmasters.

“In September 2024, Kroll published an independent report which examined the Capture software that was used in some Post Office branches in the 1990s and we fully co-operated with Kroll throughout their investigation.

“We are determined that past wrongs are put right and are continuing to support the government’s work in this area.

“Post Office has very limited records relating to this system and we encourage anyone who has Capture related material to share it with Post Office and the Criminal Cases Review Commission.”