Ei group announces appointment of Helen Cook as customer director

Ei Group, formerly Enterprise Inns, has announced the appointment of Helen Cook as customer director.

Cook has previously held roles spanning operations, area management, digital and brand development at Novus Leisure.

She replaces Steve de Polo, who left the business last month.

Cook said: "I'm thrilled to be joining Ei Group at such an interesting and exciting time in its strategic journey. I strongly believe the company is pushing the boundaries when it comes to developing innovative solutions that help its publicans grow and run successful businesses. But there is also a big opportunity to do more, particularly in the digital marketing space and customer communication.

"I've spent my career in the hospitality sector and know first hand the challenges of running a successful site and group of sites. I aim to use that understanding through building a strong customer-focused team across the marketing and customer contact functions that works in partnership with our managers, publicans and wider team."

Paul Harbottle, group commercial director at Ei Group, added: "I'm delighted to welcome Helen to the business in this important role. A key part of our strategy is centred around building the level of consumer insight we hold and then implementing that to make better decisions to develop our customer offer and support our publicans. I look forward to working closely with her to achieve this."

In May Ei Group said it was pleased to have "maintained growth momentum despite challenging trading conditions" in the six months ended 31 March 2018.

The group reported underlying EBITDA of £139m, down from £140m in the same period in 2017, with profit before tax remaining steady at £57m.

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