Mitchells & Butlers chairman steps down

Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) chairman Roger Carr has officially stepped down from the board at the All Bar One and Harvester operator.

He will be replaced by non-executive chairman Drummond Hall.

Carr had been under fire from M&B shareholders after the company lost £274m on hedging arrangements in a botched property deal with property tycoon and investor Robert Tchenguiz.

Carr's acceptance of a fifth chairman's role at Cadbury's during this period led to anger from shareholders who felt he should have been pouring his efforts into M&B.

Hall has been with the pub company since February 2007, firstly as senior independent director and latterly as deputy chairman.

He was formerly chief executive at Dairy Crest and was also the managing director of the beer and cider division at HP Bulmer.

Meanwhile Tim Smalley and Aaron Brown, of Tchenguiz's investment vehicle R20, have officially joined M&B as non-executive directors.

The pair will look to aid the business in its transformation into a real estate investment trust (REIT) with Tchenguiz taking a more hands-on approach to running the property side of business that he tried to buy in 2006.

Mitchells & Butlers chairman under fire from shareholders >>
Mitchells & Butlers chairman to step down in May >>
Mitchells & Butlers unveils REIT plans >>

By Christopher Walton

E-mail your comments to Christopher Walton here.