Whitbread poaches easyJet boss
Whitbread has poached easyJet’s chief executive, Andy Harrison, to replace Alan Parker who has decided to retire from the company.
Parker will leave his role as chief executive on 25 November and Harrison will join the company on 1 September as chief executive designate. He will be in charge of brands including Premier Inn, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table, Taybarns and Costa Coffee.
Harrison had already announced he is to leave the low cost airline in June next year.
Whitbread chairman Anthony Habgood says: “We conducted a thorough international search and selection process and had a number of high quality candidates. Andy has 14 years proven experience as a successful leader of two significant consumer facing public companies. Most recently at easyJet, he has successfully led and profitably internationalised a leading value for money brand in the highly competitive airline market.
“Whitbread has substantial opportunities for further growth, both in the UK and through developing our international presence. We believe that Andy’s skills and experience are ideally suited to lead Whitbread in taking advantage of these opportunities.”
Meanwhile, Whitbread owned Costa Coffee is to launch a new ’Coffee Club’ tomorrow. The loyalty scheme will involve a free card based reward programme enabling customers to earn points with every purchase to spend on any food, drink and merchandising product in Costa stores nationwide.
