Elias Diaz Sese appointed Domino’s interim CEO

Domino’s Pizza Group has announced that Elias Diaz Sese, currently a non-executive director of the group, will become interim chief executive on 10 October ahead of Dominic Paul’s departure.

It was announced earlier this year that Paul is to take over as the next chief executive of Whitbread, with Alison Brittain set to step down after seven years. He will join the company, which owns the Premier Inn chain, in early January 2023.

In his career, UK-based Elias has spent 15 years in various leadership roles with Restaurant Brands International, including chief executive of Tim Hortons and president Asia Pacific for Burger King. Most recently, as president Northern Europe, he led the Kraft Heinz turnaround in the UK. He also has experience of being a franchisee with Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes.

Elias has been a non-executive director of Domino’s Pizza Group since October 2019. As chief executive, he will receive a salary of £765,000 per annum.

Domino’s Pizza Group chairman Matt Shattock said: “I am delighted that Elias has agreed to take up the role of chief executive on an interim basis. Elias is very familiar with our sector given that he has held leadership roles in a number of major consumer food brands and has experience of being a franchisee himself.

“Elias has a deep understanding of the Domino’s business, has built strong relationships with the management team and franchisees and holds a significant personal shareholding in the group. He is committed and will focus on the continued effective and rapid execution of Domino’s strategy while giving the board time to ensure we find the right permanent chief executive. Working alongside our new chief financial officer Edward Jamieson, Elias is uniquely positioned to step into this role as we look to capitalise on the opportunities in today’s challenging market.”

Diaz Sese added: “Domino’s is a great business with a superb brand and world-class franchisees. For the past three years I’ve worked closely with the board and management team to create the current strategy, which I firmly believe is the right one to drive Domino’s future growth, and which I’m committed to executing at pace. I’m really excited to get started and to work with our franchisees and colleagues to continue to accelerate the delivery of the strategic plan to deliver sustainable growth and returns.”

Edward Jamieson will also join the DPG Board as chief financial officer on 17 October.

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