TGI Fridays announces several additions to executive team

TGI Fridays has named Alan Clark as its new chief financial officer, among a raft of new appointments.

Clark’s appointment is one of several changes to the executive team following the appointment of Robert Cook as CEO towards the end of 2019. Cook replaced Karen Forrester in the role.

Cook joined the casual dining group from Virgin Active. Earlier in his career he had spent nine years as chief executive of Malmaison and Hotel du Vin before taking on the same position at De Vere Hotels Resorts and Village Urban Resorts. He was then chief operating officer at Macdonald Hotels and Resorts.

Other additions to the executive team include Dan Staples as chief marketing officer; Tom Sycamore as chief operating officer; Suzanne Peacock as people and culture director; Alyson Scott as procurement, supply chain and technical director as well as Trevor Peach, operations director.

Cook said: "We now have in place a diverse team with a strong set of experience within the hospitality industry, paired with a good understanding of TGI Fridays as a brand. Between us, there’s a lot to do but we are looking forward to putting our plans in to action and you can expect exciting things from us in 2020."

Staples spent a large part of his career in the gaming sector with stints as UK marketing director for both Ladbrokes and Betfair. More recently he has held the position of brand marketing director at Wiggle ChainReactionCycles and most recently he relaunched the Checkatrade brand.

Sycamore joined TGI Friday’s from PizzaExpress, where he was operations director for UK & Ireland with responsibility for 480 restaurants, central operations and customer services teams.

Peacock joined the group from Merlin Entertainments where she held the position of group talent and development director for five years.

Scott was promoted internally having held several positions within TGI Fridays, most recently procurement director with responsibility for food safety and health and safety. Peach was also promoted internally having managed several regions including central London and Scotland.

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