Thomas Kelly to become Espresso House CEO

Nordic café brand Espresso House has appointed Thomas Kelly as its new group chief executive officer (CEO), starting  from September.

The announcement follows last week’s news that Kelly will step up to being Honest Burgers’ chair, following less than a year as the burger chain’s CEO. He will remain as chair while performing the Espresso House role.

Kelly has decades of fast-casual and coffee experience, including as CEO of McDonald’s Finland and Sweden and global executive director of Costa Coffee.

He said: “The characteristics that have made Espresso House a national champion in Sweden and across the Nordics, present a remarkable platform for further growth. I look forward to bringing consumers in all our markets delicious food and drinks, warm and welcoming environments, all underpinned by our dedication to the fika tradition.”

This appointment concludes the executive leadership changes Espresso House has made over the past year, including Konrad Meyer assuming the position of board chairman.

Meyer said that the strengthened leadership team brings “extensive Nordic and fast-casual experience”, adding: “We are very happy to welcome Thomas to Espresso House and, coincidentally, are reuniting a proven duo of Thomas and Daniel Sandström, our CFO, who worked together for many years at McDonald’s.

“I look forward to partnering with Thomas, the board and the entire Espresso House team in pursuing our growth ambitions, while maintaining our commitment to serving the best coffee and food to our customers every day.”

JAB Holding-backed Espresso House currently operates more than 500 cafés across northern Europe.

Kelly’s tenure at Honest Burgers saw him creating a vision and structure for long-term growth whilst achieving like-for-like sales of 14% and over 50% EBITDA improvement in the first 6 months of 2024.

Earlier this year he told The Caterer that the burger chain was aiming to quadruple its number of restaurants by 2030 and could adapt its format to enable further expansion outside London.