Dowell steps down at Pitcher & Piano

Mike Dowell, the managing director of Pitcher & Piano, has left parent company Marston's by mutual agreement.

After six years in the role, which also involved overseeing the day-to-day running of Bluu, Marston's bar-restaurant brand, he has been succeeded by Colin Sadler.

Derek Andrew, managing director of Marston's managed pub arm, said: "It's very straightforward. We have nailed our colours to the mast by just raising £140m to expand our food-led pub business (a further £26m will be used to pay down debt), and as such we don't have a rollout plan for Pitcher & Piano, so that business requires a slightly different approach.

"Mike and I had a chat. I think he wanted to do other things and we parted as friends."

Andrew said that Dowell would continue to work with Marston's as a consultant.

Sadler has been with Marston's since 1997, was partly responsible for the creation of the Varsity brand that was sold to Barracuda, and is a former commercial director of the managed arm.