SA Brain chief executive to depart: Brewer and retailer SA Brain has announced chief executive Scott Waddington is to step down as part of a board succession planning process being undertaken by chairman John Rhys. The search for his successor is expected to take about six months, during which time Waddington, who has been chief executive for 17 years, will remain in his post, working to deliver the family-owned company’s business plan and oversee its move to a new brewery and head office. The move will see the existing Brains site developed in partnership with Rightacres Property as a 2.5 million square foot office, leisure and residential development. Rhys said: “Scott has been a distinguished leader of the company over the past 17 years. I have enjoyed working with him during that time and look forward to doing so over the coming months while we search for the right person to lead the business into the next stage of our development.” Waddington added: “It has been a privilege to lead such an iconic Welsh company and I would like to thank all my colleagues over the years for making my time here so rewarding and enjoyable. With a number of our strategic priorities now reaching their conclusion, this felt like the natural time for me to move on to new challenges and to hand over to a new leader to take this great business on to its next stage of development. I look forward to working with John to ensure a smooth handover to my successor later this year.”