Carol Campbell will join as managing director for the group’s managed arm, which includes Slug & Lettuce, Be At One and Popworld, alongside a large unbranded estate.
She was most recently retail director at Wickes and previously held senior roles at Walmart, Aldi and Woolworths, in the UK and overseas.
Lee Reed will be joining as managed director for Stonegate’s publican partners business. His previous experience includes the role of senior operations director UK and international. Before this, he spent almost a decade at KFC while he began his career at M&S.
Furthermore, Frazer Grimbleby has been promoted to managing director of Craft Union – Stonegate’s managed format.
Key role
He has previously help several roles within the company, most recently Craft Union director. His promotion is a new role, which Stonegate said reflected the continued strong growth of Craft Union.
The managed arm delivered a “stand-out” performance in a trading update from Stonegate last year.
More recently, Craft Union is a finalist in this year’s Best Community Pub Operator category in the 2024 Publican Awards.
Carol Campbell, Lee Reed and Frazer Grimbleby will formally join the operating board with effect from 8 April 2024.
Moreover, the appointments of Lee and Frazer follow the decision by Nick Andrews to retire. After spending almost a decade at the business, having joined in 2015 to oversee the managed pub division, he also played a critical role in leading the integration of the legacy Stonegate and EIG businesses.
Nick will continue to play a key role in the company over the coming months to help deliver a smooth handover.
Hugely significant
Stonegate Group CEO David McDowall said: “I am thrilled to announce these new hires to the operating board, which is a hugely significant and exciting milestone for our business.
“In Carol and Lee, we have hired exciting talent whose skills and experience from their respective sectors will provide a fresh perspective for our managed and pub partners businesses.
“Frazer’s promotion is incredibly well-deserved and reflects stellar performance and the significant growth potential of the Craft Union business.
“I’d like to thank Nick for his considerable contribution to the business, in particular the work he has done to develop Craft Union, which is now key to our overall growth strategy. He still has a critical role to play in our business over the months ahead before enjoying his well-earned retirement.
“Above all, the new operating board structure reflects the equal significance of our three business units, compliments our strategy and provides the right platform to deliver our new mission of ‘Brining People Together through our passion for great pubs, bars and venues’.”