Julian Sargeson to take the helm at Herald
Julian Sargeson, the former Laurel Pub Company chief executive, is to take the helm at Herald Inns & Bars.
He will join the 40-strong managed group, which is jointly owned by Bank of Scotland and Trevor Hemmings, the entrepreneur who owns Blackpool Tower, as managing director on 24 September.
The appointment follows the defection of Kevin Allcock, who left the group last week to join Ultimate Leisure as director of operations. Sargeson, who was operations director at Wizard Inns before joining Laurel, will be Herald's third managing director in eight months. Mike Clayton left at the start of the year.
He told Morning Advertiser's sister publication M&C Report: "The company has come together through the combination of three businesses, so there'll be lots to do but equally there's also lots of opportunity to grow the business."
Since leaving Laurel, Sargeson has launched a new business designed to help pubs combat under-age sales called Serve Legal. It runs test-purchase operations. Herald, which has made heavy losses for a number of years, operates the Brannigans and Mood concepts and recently launched a new carvery concept.
