Stonegate appoints M&B man to top role

The appointment, effective from 3 June, completes the restructure of the company, which is thought to be preparing for an initial public offering. In February Stonegate announced that the estate would be divided in two, with former Novus Leisure chief executive Tim Cullum appointed managing director of the Branded Bars and Venues business - comprising the Slug and Lettuce and Yates’s brands, as well as Stonegate’s late night venues.

The rest of the portfolio was to be run by chief operations officer Graham Jones. However, today the company announced that after 42 years in the industry, Jones would take a step back from the role to take up the new position of divisional operations support director, with a responsibility for mentoring the next generation of operators.

M&B said a replacement for Andrews had yet to be decided but that it had “a strong pool of internal talent which means we have a good succession plan in place”.

Catriona Kempston, marketing director for M&B, told the Publican's Morning Advertiser​'s sister title M&C Report​: “We would like to thank Nick for his valuable contribution to M&B over the years, helping establish and evolve many of our well known brands, such as Vintage Inns, Miller & Carter and Nicholson’s. Nick will be with us until the end of May and leaves with our very best wishes for future.”

Operations director​

Within Stonegate’s Branded Bars and Venues estate, the company has appointed Kevin Allcock to the role of operations director for Yates, reporting to Tim Cullum. Allcock joins the business on 13 April from Mecca, where he was most recently national director of operations. Paul Wright, operations director, remains responsible for the late night Bars and Venues division.

These changes follow the appointment of Kate Wilton, as revealed by M&C Report​ last week, to the role of operations director for Slug and Lettuce. Wilton joined Stonegate from Spirit, where she had been operations director of Chef and Brewer.

Stonegate chief executive Simon Longbottom said: “These changes reflect a significant strengthening in the senior operational capability of our business. The fact that such talented operators have chosen to join Stonegate reflects on the strong progress we have made, and our ambitious plans for the future. We are also delighted that Graham Jones will continue to work with our teams imparting his extensive knowledge, having been pivotal to the success of Stonegate to date.”