Bellini (pictured) will take over from Keith Weed effective immediately after Weed completed his three-year term in the role.

In her new role, Bellini will help lead the AA’s work promoting the advertising industry and encouraging good practice in the sector, and will work closely with the AA’s chair, Philippa Brown, and chief executive, Steven Woodford.

Bellini joined Tesco in March 2017, and prior to that spent more than 20 years at Unilever, holding different board-level positions in marketing and general management in Italy, central and eastern Europe, and the US.

Woodford said: “I am hugely excited now to welcome Alessandra, a greatly respected leader in the advertising and marketing spheres, as our new president.

“Her international experience in board-level positions across the world makes her perfectly placed to advocate for the strength and economic position of the UK’s advertising industry as we recover from the pandemic.”