Lewis – a former Tesco chief executive who bears the nickname ‘Drastic Dave’ for aggressive cost cuts in his roles – took on the Diageo job in January. Former Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis was previously dubbed “Drastic Dave” for his approach to cutting costs. Thursday’s reports of a decline in net sales was dragged back further by weakness in North America, where net sales slid by 9.1% for the year. The company saw a 6.8% growth in net sales in the UK driven by continued soaring demand for Guinness, which grew by “double digits”. Around $850 million (€736.44 million) of Diageo’s savings is set to come from operations, with around $150 million (€129.96 million) to be saved from its supply chain.