After cutting its dividend, Diageo cuts US hospitality team

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated periodically with new information. If you have tips about what’s going on at Diageo, please get in touch by emailing me ([email protected]) or texting me on Signal (dinfontay.11). Anonymity available.—Dave.

Just a week after Diageo’s new-ish chief executive announced a 50% reduction in its popular stock dividend, the embattled liquor giant is cutting back its presence in United States restaurants and bars. Fingers has learned that workers on the Diageo Hospitality Partnership team have been laid off. Two recently former employees of Diageo estimate the cuts around 200 employees.

A memo shared on social media, purportedly sent yesterday by the managing director of Enthuse Marketing, a nominally independent agency that runs the program at an arm’s length from Diageo proper, described the cut as a contract non-renewal. “Diageo has decided to make some strategic changes to their approach in the On-Premise, and as a result, will not be renewing the program for F27,” reads the document, which Fingers has not been able to independently verify. “Your role at Enthuse will come to an end when the program concludes on 6/30.”

Several people connected to Enthuse Marketing on LinkedIn have recently updated their status to #OpenToWork, according to a review of the company’s “People” section on the platform.

A spokesperson for Diageo confirmed the layoffs in a brief emailed statement, writing “As we continue to sharpen our strategy, we have made the decision to refine our presence in the on-premise.” The company declined to comment on the number of workers affected, or the veracity of the memo.

Neither Enthuse’s chief executive officer, Kim Lawton, nor DHP managing director Lisa Petrella (to whom the memo is attributed) immediately responded to requests for comment.

The layoffs come at a transitional moment for Diageo. Its former CEO, Debra Crew, was on the job for just two years, abruptly stepping down in July 2025. Its current head honcho, known in boardrooms and business press as “Drastic Dave” for his aggressive austerity measures, just last week announced a pivot away from his predecessors’ long-held “premiumization” strategy.

Pushing up the price ladder has yielded Diageo diminishing returns as the global economy has worsened, and has left the conglomerate vulnerable in some segments to “good enough” challengers at more affordable prices. This has put Casamigos’ corporate handler in a double-bind: its stable of thoroughbred brands may have lost a step (or several), but they’re not really cut out to be mid- to bottom-shelf workhorses, either.

“This is both a challenge and indeed an opportunity,” Lewis told investors on the firm’s earnings call last week.