Francois-Xavier Bellon has been appointed chief executive of Sodexho UK & Ireland. Bellon, the son of the company's founder and chairman Pierre Bellon, replaces Mark Shipman, who leaves the company at the end of March.
A spokesman said Shipman is returning to the USA for personal, family-related reasons and there was no question of him being forced out. Bellon has already moved to London and will take over from Shipman after a three-month handover period.
Michel Landel, co-chief operating officer for the UK and North America, said the founder's son had been chosen for the strength of his performance, not because of his family name. Bellon, 38, previously managed Sodexho's business in Mexico which, after several difficult years, he succeeded in restoring to profitability last year. Sodexho hopes he can do the same here.
Last week it reported a worsening of its UK performance. In the three months to the end of November, sales fell by 7.2% to g330m (£230m). By contrast, Sodexho reported rising sales in the rest of its markets.
Shipman was recruited in April 2002 to turn the UK business around after head office became aware of "accounting anomalies" and "serious errors of management". Under his leadership, food and personnel costs were tightened, new human resources policies were put in place to help retain staff, and unprofitable contracts were either renegotiated or axed. But recovery has been slower than expected.
Bellon has been brought in to continue the recovery strategy, the spokesman said. Despite the fall in turnover, UK operating profit has crept up in the past year from 0.7% to 1.4% and is forecast to reach 2.5% by November. The company expects UK operating profit to reach 5% in the next two to three years, in line with the rest of its business.