Comptoir Group chairman and CEO step down

Two senior board members of the Comptoir Group restaurant chain have stepped down following a battle for control of the business.

The company announced this morning (2 August) that chairman Richard Kleiner and chief executive officer Chaker Hanna have left their roles with immediate effect.

It comes after Comptoir’s founder Tony Kitous called for the pair to resign in June.

Kleiner was not re-elected as a director after the appointment was voted down by Kitous at the company AGM last month but was later reappointed by the board.

Comptoir has entered a settlement with Hanna, who will receive a £720,000 payment after agreeing to waive all claims against the company.

Hanna said in a statement: “I would like to thank our chairman, Richard Kleiner and the entire team at Comptoir for their dedication and commitment in building the company over the past 12.5 years with all the challenges that we had to face.

“I am leaving the business with current record performance in sales, profit and also record cash position. To this end I’m very grateful to each of our team to enable me to be leaving the business in such a state. I wish the company well.”

Comptoir said today that former Pizza Express non-executive director Beatrice Lafon and the former chief executive of the Paul bakery chain, Jean-Michel Orieux, have been appointed to the board with immediate effect.

The board will now begin a “thorough and independent search” for a new chief executive through an executive search firm, the company said.

Both internal and external candidates will be considered and Kitous will not be standing for the role.

Orieux, who also previously led the Ping Pong dim sum chain, will become interim chief executive while a new candidate is appointed.

Comptoir said: “The reconstituted Board will be responsible for maintaining and extending the Company’s growth trajectory, including investing in the brand and customer experience, accelerating the opening of new restaurants and exploiting opportunities in franchising and wholesale.”

Kitous founded Comptoir in 2008 as a Lebanese and Eastern Mediterranean restaurant group and holds a 47.6% share in the company.

Comptoir operates 19 UK restaurants under the Comptoir Libanais brand and two international sites in Dubai and Utrecht. It also runs smaller outlets under the quick-service Shawa brand and two standalone high street restaurants, called Levant and Kenza.

*Photo: cktravels.com/Shutterstock *