Lambert and Butler tobacco boss says she would not try to stop her two daughters from smoking

Lambert and Butler tobacco boss says she would NOT try to stop her two daughters from smoking

  • Alison Cooper is the chief executive of industry heavyweight, Imperial Brands 
  • Although aware of the health risks, she is relaxed about her daughters smoking 
  • She said that she wants her children to make their own informed choices 

The blunt warning that ‘smoking kills’ is slapped on nearly every cigarette box which is sold in the UK. 

But the boss of one of the world’s largest tobacco firms has said she will not dissuade her own daughters from taking up the habit, despite the glaring health risks.

Alison Cooper, 53, is the chief executive of Bristol-based Imperial Brands and one of the only women to lead a FTSE 100 company. 

But although she is aware of the life-shortening damage that cigarettes can inflict, the mother-of-two is relaxed about her 15 and 23-year-old children smoking. 

Alison Cooper, 53, is the chief executive of tobacco industry heavyweight, Imperial Brands, and will not dissuade her own daughters from smoking

‘I’ve always tried to bring them up in a way that they make their own choices in life from an informed position’, Cooper said when asked about her laid-back approach to smoking, in an interview with the Sunday Times. 

And pressed if she would be disappointed if they started smoking, she said: ‘I don’t think disappointment is a good role for a mother at any point in time.’

In a market which is constantly adapting and innovating new products, Cooper, who has been at the helm of Imperial Brands since 2010 and enjoys the odd cigar, said she hopes the company will stop selling cigarettes in her lifetime. 

The dangers of smoking are well-known and at least 40 per cent of cigarette packaging has to clear space to detail the consequences of inhaling the tobacco gases.

‘Smokers die younger’, ‘smoking causes fatal lung cancer’ and ‘smoking can cause a slow and painful death’ are among the phrases which, by law, must be emblazoned on packets.

Imperial Brands is best known for its Davidoff and Lambert and Butler cigarettes.

Although the number of smokers in the UK is declining year-on-year, there are still an estimated 9.4million and the tobacco industry remains a lucrative market.

In 2017, Cooper, pocketed £5.5 million, a dramatic pay rise from £3.6million the year before.

Imperial Brands is best known for its Davidoff and Lambert and Butler (pictured) cigarettes

Imperial Brands is best known for its Davidoff and Lambert and Butler (pictured) cigarettes

Cooper, who has been at the helm of Imperial Brands since 2010, said she hopes the company will stop selling cigarettes in her lifetime

Cooper, who has been at the helm of Imperial Brands since 2010, said she hopes the company will stop selling cigarettes in her lifetime

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