Prezzo appoints former Travelodge boss as new chief executive
Restaurant group Prezzo has appointed a former boss of Travelodge, Jon Hendry-Pickup, as its new chief executive.
Hendry-Pickup, who starts his new role in July, was most recently chief operative officer at the budget hotel chain and prior to that was operations director for Tesco in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The company has been on the hunt for a chief executive since co-founder Jonathan Kaye moved to a non-executive role after the £304m acquisition of the business by Texas private equity firm TPG Capital at the start of 2015.
One of TPG's operating partners, Dirk Eller, was made interim chief executive until a successor was found.
Eller, who is chairman of Prezzo, added: "We are delighted to welcome Jon to Prezzo and are excited to have such a highly qualified individual join at a time of significant business momentum. Jon's experience will be invaluable as the company continues to strengthen its focus on customer experience, grow its footprint, build its market share and further define itself as a leader in the UK and Ireland's casual dining space."
Abel Halpern, partner at TPG Capital, said: "Dirk succeeded in leading Prezzo from the period following our original acquisition to this exciting next chapter. We will rely on his operational expertise and counsel in his role as our chairman. Jon's customer experience and multi-site operations' expertise will provide huge benefit to Prezzo as the business enters another exciting chapter of growth. We are fortunate to have an executive of his calibre on our team."
Founded in 2000, Prezzo now has 284 sites under the Prezzo and Chimichanga brands.
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