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What . . . you mean you work for a tobacco company?

How does the controversial cigarette industry attract staff? Nick Wyke sorts out the story from the puffs

A HARD-HITTING anti-smoking campaign showing a cigarette oozing fat is the latest pressure on smokers to quit. Only last week a report advised the Government that a ban on smoking in the workplace could be more effective than present policies in reducing the health burden of tobacco. The report also called on the Department of Health to consider whether there should be a new organisation to regulate the tobacco industry.

As smoking becomes increasingly marginalised, the industry has to consider whether it will be able to attract high-calibre graduates in the future.

In the UK the three biggest tobacco companies, Gallaher, British American Tobacco and Imperial, currently recruit fewer than 50 graduates a year between them. They are not a big presence on the “milk