Whitbread appoints new Senior Independent Director

8 May 2018 Financial & business

Whitbread PLC has today announced the appointment of Richard Gillingwater as a Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director with effect from 27 June 2018. Richard will fill the vacancy left by Adam Crozier when he became Chairman in March. As with all appointments to the Board, Richard’s appointment follows a formal, rigorous and transparent process, following which the Board decided that Richard was the ideal fit given his experience and the skills needed to deliver the Company’s strategy.

Richard spent much of his executive career in corporate finance and investment banking with Kleinwort Benson, BZW and latterly Credit Suisse First Boston, where he rose to become Chairman of European Investment Banking. In 2003 he moved out of banking and became Chief Executive of the Shareholder Executive, a newly formed body set up to manage the Government’s portfolio of investments. He has considerable plc Board experience and currently serves as Chairman of Janus Henderson Group plc and SSE plc as well as serving as a non- executive director of Helical plc and as Pro-Chancellor of the Open University.

Adam Crozier, Chairman of Whitbread PLC said “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Richard Gillingwater as our Senior Independent Director. He has played a key role in guiding many boards through periods of growth, M&A activity and restructuring. His experience will be of great value to Whitbread as we continue the transformation of our two businesses, Premier Inn and Costa, and as we pursue the demerger of Costa, which will provide shareholders with investments in two distinct, focused and market-leading businesses.”