Andrew Witty's charisma and broad international experience were among the factors that helped win him the chief executive post at GlaxoSmithKline aged 43.

He joined Glaxo in 1985, long before its merger with SmithKline Beecham in 2000, and spent most of his career at the group, successively as director of pharmacy and distribution and international product manager in the UK, before serving as managing director for Glaxo South Africa and area director for South and East Africa.