The chief executive of Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) has stepped down and made way for chief operating officer Phil Urban to take the top job.
The group , one of the largest operators in the UK's £78bn eating and drinking market, said Alistair Darby would step down on 26 September in spite of the "significant contribution" it said he had made during his three-year tenure.
Mr Urban only joined the group in January but was previously managing director at Grosvenor Casinos, a division of Rank, managing director at Whitbread's pub restaurant division, and at Scottish & Newcastle's retail restaurants and accommodation.
Chairman Bob Ivell said he and the other non-executives had "considered the issue of the leadership of M&B very carefully", and thought Mr Urban could "build on the progress made" by his predecessor.
The group, which owns brands including Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One, said like-for-like sales growth was 1 per cent for the first 50 weeks of the year, or 7 per cent up if adjusted for openings and its £266m acquisition of Orchid in June last year. A total of 14 new sites have been opened so far this financial year while 48 sites have been converted, including 38 conversions of Orchid sites to core M&B brands. Another 40 sites are set to be converted.
With the UK eating and drinking out market "subdued in the summer", according to the group, it expected sales to be at the "bottom end of the range of current market expectations". In spite of this, M&B said it would continue its plans to "reposition and enhance" the business with the aim of meeting high customer expectations which persist in spite of their cautious spending habits.
Mr Urban will be paid a basic annual salary of £510,000 as chief executive.
The shares were down 3 per cent in early trading
