THE managerial baton officially changed hands at tobacco company Carreras Limited last week when Marcus Steele assumed the role of managing director.

He replaced Richard Pandohie who was promoted to another position within parent company, British American Tobacco (BAT) Group.

Steele, an employee of Carreras, had been on secondment to the Trinidad branch of another BAT company, Carisma Marketing Services Limited, in the position of Country Manager with responsibility for the general management of the Company's businesses across 24 markets in the English, French and Dutch Caribbean since August 1, 2011.

Prior to that, Steele served four years at Carreras as Finance Director and Company Secretary.

The St Jago High School graduate is a qualified Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of the West Indies, and a Master of Business Administration from Florida International University.

Steele first joined Carreras Group Limited in the company's Tobacco division, Cigarette Company of Jamaica Limited, in the capacity of the Company's Management Accountant in April 1998.

In welcoming Steele back into the Carreras fold, the Board of Directors also credited his predecessor with positioning the company for growth, after reversing the volume decline trend resulting from years of successive and excessive excise increases coupled with the growth of the illicit trade".