Meet the board

Luke Johnson is a well-known entrepreneur and investor recognised for his significant contributions to the hospitality sector. He established himself in the sector as Chairman of and significant investor in PizzaExpress during its rapid expansion in the 1990s, he has since been involved in numerous successful ventures, including his role at and investment in Gail's bakeries amongst many others. Mr Johnson has chaired or founded various companies, including the private equity firm Risk Capital Partners, which has invested in a range of industries. Luke also participated in the Group's 2024 fundraise and holds 300,000,000 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares"), representing 20% of the Company's Ordinary Shares.

Other appointments:
Luke Johnson's current Directorships and Partnerships are as follows:

Rob has over 25 years’ experience within the hospitality sector, most recently as Divisional Director Restaurants at Mitchells & Butlers responsible for the Harvester, Toby Carvery and Stonehouse brands.  Prior to joining M&B, Rob has held senior positions at many other leading hospitality companies including: Bramwell, Stonegate, Town & City, Laurel, Spirit and Scottish & Newcastle Retail.

Danielle is a Chartered Accountant with extensive corporate finance and hands-on financial and commercial management experience gained in senior positions at large multi-site retail businesses. Most recently, she was Chief Financial Officer At Footasylum plc. Prior to that she was Director of Finance at Pets at Home and performed senior financial  roles at Matalan, Royal and Sun Alliance and the Co-operative Group.

Jemima is a marketer with more than 20 years’ experience working with many of the UK’s leading high street brands, most recently leading the rebrand for the Co-op Food business. She formed Hello Finch, a brand and marketing consultancy, in 2013. Between 2008 and 2015, Jemima held executive Board positions at Moss Bros plc, Tragus and Musgrave Retail Partners.

Other appointments:
Jemima is a Director of Hello Finch Limited and a Board Trustee for the Football Foundation, the UK’s largest sports charity.

William Tuffy is a Chartered and Certified Accountant with over 35 years’ experience in senior general and financial management roles in retail, FMCG and property investment and management. He has also been involved with business transformation and turnaround projects in companies ranging from large multi-nationals to mid-sized businesses and start-ups. He has held non-executive positions, including four years at Beale plc, during which time he was initially senior independent Director and then Non-Executive Chairman. Whilst at Beale plc, William also served as chair of both audit and remuneration committees.

Other appointments:
William is also a Director of Miromore Limited and Structadene Limited.

Gavin co-founded The Laine Pub Company in 1997 and served as its CEO until September 2024. The business operates a successful estate of 55 pubs and venues across Brighton, London and Birmingham, and is noted for its content led approach to sales generation. He remains a Non-Executive Director at Punch Pubs & Co, which acquired Laine in 2018.

Charlie spent 20 years as an owner/operator of a series of bar and pub businesses. This culminated in the founding, development and successful sale of The Draft House, a group of 16 craft beer pubs, to BrewDog in 2018. Since then he has served as a Non-Executive Director at restaurant business, The Breakfast Club, and Allsopp’s Taverns, a brewing and pub business.