Whitbread has appointed the former Chief Executive of Boparan Restaurant Group to lead its newly restructured restaurants division.
Joe Teixeira has been named Managing Director of Whitbread's branded restaurants division, where he will oversee brands such as Beefeater and Brewers Fayre.
This appointment comes as the group plans to streamline its struggling branded restaurant division by exiting 126 sites and converting approximately 100 of them into Premier Inn hotel rooms over the next two years.
In October, Whitbread announced it had accepted offers totaling £56 million for 51 branded restaurants and bars.
Simon Ewins, Managing Director at Whitbread, stated at the Annual Hospitality Conference in September that some of the company's restaurants had become a 'distraction' to the business.
A Whitbread spokesperson said: “We have a clear plan for F&B and this dedicated new role will ensure we continue to do a first-class job of serving the hotel guests and community visitors who visit these brands day in, day out whilst enabling our operations directors to focus on the experience of the four million guests who visit our hotels each month.”
Teixeira began his career at Whitbread as a management trainee and later managed retail food and beverage formats for the John Lewis Partnership.
He also served as Managing Director at Greene King and has held positions at Greenalls Pubs & Restaurants and De Vere Hotels.
Most recently, Teixeira was Managing Director of the entertainment division at Majid Al Futtaim LLC in the Middle East, overseeing shopping malls, retail outlets, cinemas, leisure and entertainment venues, including the indoor ski slope, Ski Dubai.
Whitbread reported a 1% increase in group sales, reaching £739 million in the first quarter of the year.
