Honest Burgers appoints Frank Hayes as CEO

Honest Burgers has appointed Frank Hayes as chief executive of the group, with former managing director Gary Mann moving into the newly created role of chief commercial officer.

Hayes’ experience includes 13 years at Yum! Brands and three years at managed pub business Spirit Group.

He said: “I have admired Honest as a customer for a number of years and really enjoyed working with the team last year, so I naturally jumped at the opportunity to return to hospitality and join Honest full-time at what is an incredibly exciting time for the brand.”

Spencer Skinner of Active Partners, an investor in the brand, added: “I’m delighted with the addition of Frank to the Honest team. It’s a credit to the team and the Honest brand that we can attract someone of his calibre. This completes a really impressive leadership team at Honest, which will be critical as we seek to execute our highly ambitious plans over the coming years.”

Honest also announces that finance director of three years David Foulis is leaving the business this month to pursue other opportunities. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Holly Elliott, previously finance director of Café Nero and Five Guys.

Honest Burgers was co-founded by friends Tom Barton and Philip Eeles in Brighton in 2009 and started out at a local food festival. The following year the first restaurant opened in Brixton Market in London, which is still there today. The group now operates 45 sites across the UK, a combination of eat-in restaurants, dark kitchens and pop-ups.