UK's Whitbread taps head of pizza franchisee as new CEO
Reuters
Published Jun 29, 2022 05:29AM ET
Updated Jun 29, 2022 07:01AM ET
(Reuters) -Whitbread, the owner of UK hotel chain Premier Inn, on Wednesday named Dominic Paul, the boss of the British franchisee for U.S.-based Domino's Pizza (NYSE:DPZ), as its new chief executive.
51-year-old Paul, leaves London-listed Domino's Pizza Group at a time when the UK firm is firefighting sky high inflation after hedging itself against wheat prices which have soared due to the Ukraine conflict, while Whitbread (LON:WTB) navigates rising costs and labour shortages.
Paul returns for a second stint at Whitbread in early January - he previously served as CEO at Whitbread's coffee chain Costa Coffee ahead of its sale to Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) in 2019 - succeeding Alison Brittain, who will retire at the end of the firm's 2023 fiscal year.
"Dominic is the an obvious choice as he is a veteran in this industry," said Richard Clarke, analyst at Bernstein.
"What is interesting is that Dominic come from Domino's, which operates as a franchise model, and we know Whitbread has not been successful as a franchisee except in the Middle East," added Clarke.
Under Paul's tenure, shares of Domino's have fallen about 15%, while Whitbread shares have lost more than 37% since Brittain took over as chief in September 2015.
Domino's said its board was starting a process to identify Paul's successor and shares of the company slipped 6% after Wednesday's announcement.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.