The European boss of burger chain McDonald’s is to take over as chief executive of French hotel chain Accor.
Denis Hennequin is to join the hotel group on January 11, moving from his position as European chief executive of the fast food giant.
He is to replace Gilles Pelisson, who has been at the helm of the company behind the Motel6 budget chain in the US, Sofitel luxury hotels and the Novotel brand for five years.
Pelisson has restructured the company during his time in charge, selling off non-core assets and hotels, replacing them with long-term leases, and separating a “highly cash-generative” vouchers business into a separately listed company, Edenred.
Under Hennequin’s direction, Accor will move into “a new phase in its development, during which the definition of priorities and their execution will be key factors in its success,” the company said.