BP's Graham Sims takes over at Compass

Compass Group has replaced UK managing director of business and industry Chris Copner with another high-level appointment from outside the catering industry.

Graham Sims, 48, currently UK retail director at oil giant BP, will take over from Copner in February.

The move follows the appointment of group chief executive Richard Cousins, chairman Roy Gardner and UK chief executive Ian El-Mokadem from other sectors.

El-Mokadem said the appointment made sense given the size of the job. "There's no focus on making an internal or external appointment but this is a big beast and finding a successor internally for this kind of role was challenging," he told Caterer.

He also pointed to Sims's background in retail as a plus. "In a fixed-price, nil-subsidy market there's an increasing trend towards a retail mindset."

By Tom Bill

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