Grand Union readies for growth with expanded management team

19 January 2012 by
Grand Union readies for growth with expanded management team

London pub company Grand Union has expanded its senior management team with the appointment of three industry heavyweights as the firm gears up for growth in 2012.

Managing director and co-owner Adam Marshall will be joined by Tim Yates as finance director, Marc Rust as operations director and Anna Murashka as group sales and events manager. Co-owner Adam Saword is stepping down as co director.

Grand Union also announced plans to follow up a successful 2011, in which it opened two new Central London pubs in Farringdon and Paddington, with at least three new sites this year. The company currently operates 10 venues the capital.

Turnover last year was up 61% to £7.5m from £1.8m in 2008 and the firm was included in the 2011 Sunday Times Fast Track 100 of the fastest growing independent companies in the UK for the second consecutive year.

Yates joins Grand Union from Real Pubs where he was also finance director, in charge of heading the acquisition of Real Pubs by Greene King for £53m in April last year. He has worked in the hospitality industry for fifteen years having qualified as an accountant in 1994.

Commenting on his decision to join the pub company, Yates said: "Grand Union's plans for expansion are what attracted me to this young and dynamic company. Having led one of the most interesting leisure acquisitions of 2011, I am confident Grand Union has what it takes to succeed in this tough market.

"The brand is strong and the customer base is still spending; even in these tough economic times. I am very excited for Grand Union's prospects in the near and medium future."

Rust, whose last role head of London operations at Jamie's Italian, has a wealth of rollout expertise to bring to Grand Union, having previously worked for Tragus at Strada and Gondola Holdings for Zizzi & Ask.

Murashka has joined Grand Union to head its corporate and pro-active sales department following six years at Novus leisure, working in a number of their high capacity Central London venues.

The Caterer Interview - Adam Marshall >>

Grand Union sees 60% profit growth >>

Private equity buyers circle Grand Union >>

By Janie Stamford

E-mail your comments to Janie Stamford here.

Tabletalk
Tabletalk
If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.catererandhotelkeeper.com/tabletalk

Catererandhotelkeeper.com jobs

Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Catererandhotelkeeper.com jobs

Blogs on Catererandhotelkeeper.com ](http://www.catererandhotelkeeper.com/blogs) Catch up with more news and gossip on all Caterer's blogs
[E-newsletters](http://www.catererandhotelkeeper.com/email-newsletters.htm)[ For the latest hospitality news, sign up for our E-newsletters
The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking