Management

Board committees key

A: Audit committee F: Finance committee 
N: Nominations committee R: Remuneration committee

Peter Johnson (F, N)

Title: Chairman
Appointment: January 2007
Age: 62

Skills and experience

Peter Johnson was non-executive chairman of Inchcape plc from 2006 until 2009 and previously chief executive of its international motors business. His former posts include sales and marketing director of the Rover Group, chief executive of the Marshall Group and non-executive director of Wates Group. He is a non-executive director of Bunzl plc.

Ian Burke (F, N)

Title: Chief executive
Appointment: March 2006
Age: 53

Skills and experience

Ian Burke was previously chief executive of the Holmes Place Group (the former health club operator), chief executive of Thistle Hotels plc and managing director of the bingo operator Gala Clubs.

Paddy Gallagher (F)

Title: Finance director
Appointment: June 2008
Age: 46

Skills and experience

A former finance director of Quadriga Worldwide Limited, Paddy Gallagher previously held senior finance positions with information technology companies Dell Corporation, Wang and Sun Microsystems.

Richard Greenhalgh (R, N, A)

Title: Senior independent non-executive director
Appointment: July 2004
Age: 65

Skills and experience

Chairman of Unilever UK between 1998 and 2004 and chairman of First Milk until 2009, Richard Greenhalgh is currently chairman of The Council for Industry and Higher Education, CARE International UK, and a member of the advisory board of Liaison Financial Services Limited. He is a fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford.

Owen O’Donnell (R, N, A)

Title: Non-executive director (Independent)
Appointment: September 2008
Age: 43

Skills and experience

Currently non-executive chairman of fanduel.com, the online fantasy sports site, Owen O’Donnell’s previous appointments include chief financial officer of the online media company Joost and of the online gaming companies Betfair and King.com, director of finance and performance measurement at Pearson plc and finance director of FT.com and Extel.

Tim Scoble

Title: Non-executive director (Not independent)
Appointment: April 2010
Age: 53

Skills and experience

Tim Scoble is currently chief executive officer of GuocoLeisure Limited, a Singapore listsed company controlled by Guoco Group Limited (a parent company of the Company’s largest shareholder) and is also the UK chief executive of Guoman Hotels (formerly Thistle Hotels). Tim is a qualified chartered accountant and was previously the managing director of Moat House Hotels from 2001 to 2003 and the chief executive of Little Chef and a director of Travelodge from 2003 to 2005.

Mike Smith

Title: Non-executive director (Not independent)
Appointment: April 2010
Age: 46

Skills and experience

Mike Smith is currently chief financial officer of Clermont Leisure (UK) Limited, a UK casino business controlled by Guoco Group Limited (a parent company of the Company’s largest shareholder). Mike (not to be confused with the former chief executive of the Company) is a qualified chartered accountant and has had a long career in finance operational roles, including 16 years with Whitbread PLC.

Bill Shannon (R, N, A)

Title: Non-executive director (Independent)
Appointment: April 2006
Age: 60

Skills and experience

Chairman of Aegon UK plc, Bill Shannon is also a non-executive director of Barratt Developments plc and Johnsons Service Group Plc and an operating partner at Tri-Artisan Partners, a private equity house. He was previously an executive director of Whitbread plc, chairman of the Gaucho Grill restaurant group and a non-executive director of Matalan plc.

John Warren (R, N, A)

Title: Non-executive director (Independent)
Appointment: January 2006
Age: 56

Skills and experience

Formerly group finance director of WH Smith plc and United Biscuits plc and a non-executive director of RAC plc, Rexam plc, Arla UK plc and BPP Holdings Limited, John Warren currently holds non-executive directorships at Bovis Homes Group plc, Spectris plc and Uniq plc.