Keen and Rogers join Laurel pubco

Laurel Pub Company, Robert Tchenguiz's high-street pub business, has announced the appointments of Chris Keen as its new chief financial officer and Steve Rogers as managing director of its Ha! Ha! Canteen brand.

Keen, formerly finance director at Spirit before it was acquired by Punch in January 2006, replaces Steve Brown, who will leave Laurel for personal reasons. He will stay on until January 2007 to assist in the transition period.

Rogers was most recently operations director of restaurant chain Old Orleans, before its sale by Punch Taverns to Regent Inns for £26m in September. He was previously operations director of Spirit Group's Two for One business, and was responsible for the roll out of the brand. Rogers will start his new role on 30 October, while Keen will take up his post on 6 November.

In September, Laurel chief executive Paul Symonds, outlined plans to provide a clearer focus, create dedicated teams and inject new talent in the company.

He said: "We have made good progress with the reorganisation plans for Laurel over the past few weeks and I am certain that these appointments will help our strong team to drive the next phase of growth in the company's expansion strategy."

Laurel operates close to 400 sites, including Ha! Ha!, Slug & Lettuce and Yates' outlets.