Sodexho seeks new UK chief

Sodexho is looking for a new chief executive for its UK business after Francois-Xavier Bellon relinquished his role due to ill health.

Bellon, the son of the company's founder and chairman, Pierre Bellon, was appointed head of Sodexho's UK arm in January, but his illness has prevented him from working since the end of March.

Although Bellon is reported to be making a steady recovery, a spokesman said doctors could not give a date when he could return to work, and so the company had decided to appoint a new chief executive.

Michel Landel, the company's executive chairman, will continue to head up the company until a new chief executive is found. The spokesman added that he expected Bellon to return to work for the company, but in another role.

Long-serving chief executives have recently been hard to come by for the caterer's UK arm. Bellon's predecessor, Mark Shipman, left the company for personal reasons at the start of this year, although he continued to work with Bellon until the middle of March, shortly before Bellon's long-term illness forced him to stop working.

Shipman was brought in from the USA in 2002 to turn around the UK operation following an "accounting anomalies" scandal and a profit warning that has dogged the company since.

The caterer's latest interim figures show that recovery is slow. Revenues in the UK fell by 7.2% for the first six months of the year to 29 February, despite an action plan being in place for the past 18 months. This is focused on better cost control, renegotiating or terminating loss-making contracts, improving training and staff motivation, and cutting overheads. A statement said that headway made has been partly offset by increased pension contributions.

Elsewhere, the caterer performed better, with sales of g6.2b (£4.2b), compared with g5.9b (£4b) at the same point last year. Net profits increased by 24.3%, excluding the currency effect.