M&B and IHG lose bosses on same day
Two firms born from the demise of the Bass Breweries empire have parted company with their chief executives - in very different circumstances.
Checking out: Andy Coslett will leave InterContinental after a six year stay
Pubs and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers and InterContinental Hotels - created on the same day in 2003 - simultaneously said their bosses would be leaving.
Former Bass division M&B (down 10.2p at 289.3p) said boss Adam Fowle departed 'by mutual consent' after two years as chief executive, with non-executive director Jeremy Blood taking over as interim boss.
Fowle will be seen as the latest victim to hurtle out of the window of a prolonged bar-room brawl, after two years in which he clung to his job amid the turmoil.
The period of boardroom volatility came after billionaire investor Joe Lewis instigated a shake-up that saw former chairman Simon Laffin ousted and replaced by John Lovering last year.
Lovering stepped down only last month and Fowle's subsequent exit has fuelled rumours that both men found life difficult with 23% investor Lewis' shadow hanging over them.
But well-placed sources said the key factor was new chairman Simon Burke's desire to axe the last man standing from a disastrous property venture with Iranian tycoon Robert Tchenguiz that cost the company some £500m.
Analyst Atif Latif of Guardian Stockbrokers said it 'does seem fair to assume that this is a clear- out'.
Fowle - who will receive a pay-off of more than £1.5m - was credited with masterminding a successful shift towards food by the firm behind the All Bar One and Harvester chains.
Meanwhile InterContinental Hotels - another former Bass asset - announced the resignation of chief executive Andy Cosslett, with no pay-off, after six years at the helm.
He will be replaced by chief financial officer Richard Solomons, who a company spokesman said was instrumental in the recent overhaul of IHG's Holiday Inn brand.
The revamp saw IHG (down 27p to 1227.5p) tell franchise owners to meet higher standards or lose the brand name and has been hailed as a success, after the firm returned to profit last year with earnings of £246m.
Sources close to Cosslett - who brought Vienetta to British shores as a young employee of Unilever - said he could land another top job after taking some time off.
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