Whitebread names Alison Brittain as new chief executive

Whitbread has named Alison Brittain as its new chief executive.

Brittain, a top executive at Lloyds, is set to become one of the few female FTSE 100 bosses, and succeed Andy Harrison – who confirmed his retirement last month.

The only other female FTSE 100 chief executives are: Kingfisher’s Veronique Laury, Severn Trent’s Liv Garfield, Moya Greene of Royal Mail, Alison Cooper at Imperial Tobacco and EasyJet’s Carolyn McCall.

alison brittain

Alison Brittain has been named the new chief executive of Whitebread.

The head of Lloyds’s retail division is going to have a base salary of £775,000 at Whitbread.

She will also receive performance-related share awards and other incentive schemes.

Chairman Richard Baker said: “We are delighted to have secured someone of Alison’s calibre. We ran an extensive search and selection process and Alison was the standout candidate from a very strong field.”

Brittain added: “I am absolutely delighted to have been chosen to lead Whitbread. I am impressed by its success and its strong, well loved brands.”

Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said: “Alison has played a significant role in leading the transformation of our retail businesses and I thank her for her contribution.”

Under her leadership, Lloyds said that its retail business “has been revitalised and has made great strides in adapting to a new regulatory environment, changing customer demands and advances in technology”.

Brittain will leave Lloyds in July.

About Whitebread

Whitbread PLC is a multinational hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company headquartered in Dunstable. Its largest division is Permer Inn – the UKs largest hotel brand. It also operates Costa Coffee, the second-largest international coffee shop chain.