Former ITV, Royal Mail and Football Association chief exective Adam Crozier was today named as chairman of Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner Whitbread.
Crozier, who joined the Whitbread board in April 2017 and became senior independent director in September, is to succeed Richard Baker as chairman of the company.
Baker will retire at the end of the firm’s financial year, on February 28, after nearly nine years on the board, including four years as chairman.
Crozier said: “Whitbread has two great brands in Premier Inn and Costa, with 50,000 colleagues delivering terrific customer service every day.
“We have a very strong management team and an exciting plan to continue to deliver growth in our core UK businesses, whilst developing our international business through growth in Germany, China and Costa Express.
“I am delighted to become chairman of Whitbread and to help steer the company through the next chapter of its long history.”
Non-executive director Chris Kennedy, who led the selection process last autumn, said: “We have conducted a thorough, independent, external appointment process and it was evident that Adam was the best candidate to become our next chairman.
“Adam has proven himself to be an eminently capable leader in a number of high profile executive appointments and shares the same strong sense of cultural values, which have been integral to Whitbread throughout its 275 year history.”