Willie Crawshay

Willie Crawshay managing director, Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises (new entry)

Why he is on the list:

Crawshay, an experienced S&N staffer, took over the company's pub management arm in January 2008. He has held various posts across S&N over the years. The S&NPE business oversees the management of getting on for 2,000 pubs on behalf of third-party ownership vehicles, in which it also has an equity stake.

What the past year has held:

Crawshay is seen very much as a safe pair of hands, but even his experience and expertise have been challenged. The Globe tranche of pubs it manages has seen a deteriorating performance that culminated in the breach of key securitisation covenants. The CGA survey of 1,000 licensees for Bec MPs also found that S&NPE had a higher number than average of licensees on shorter-term lease agreements. On the other hand, its licensees reported they were more positive about their relationship with their pubco landlord than the average.

Challenges ahead:

Like any major tenanted pubco, life will be turbulent for the foreseeable future. It must be seen as a sign of commitment to S&NPE from the company's new Dutch owners that it forked out to buy up a large tranche of the bonds associated with Globe.