Oakman Inns appoints Dermot King to newly created COO role
Oakman Inns has announced the appointment of Bourne Leisure director Dermot King to the company's newly created chief operating officer role.
King, who sits on the board of UKHospitality and is chairman of the campaign to cut tourism VAT, will join Oakman Inns in January 2019. As well as being a director of Bourne Leisure he is currently managing director of Butlins.
The appointment comes as Oakman Inns eyes further expansion with five pubs already in its pipeline.
CEO and founder Peter Borg-Neal said: "Some months ago, it became clear that to myself and my executive directors (Joseph Evans, CFO, Alex Ford, operations director and Jill Scatchard, HR director) that we were about to become far busier. We had a clear understanding of the challenges posed by our planned rate of expansion as well as the further opportunities that were presenting themselves and we had secured a solid asset-based investment platform.
"With that vision and breadth of ambition, we felt the time was right to find someone who had the same level of customer focus as our team and who would understand our community and corporate ethos. We wanted someone who not only spoke our language, but who would also bring something fresh to the table.
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