Whitbread appoints Richard Baker as new Chairman

15th Jul 2014 07:25

Costa and Premier Inn owner Whitbread has announced that Non-Executive Director Richard Baker is to replace Anthony Habgood as Chairman when he steps down later this year.The company announced in January that Habgood would retire after nine years as Chairman. Baker is currently also the Chairman of both Virgin Active Group and DFS Furniture and used to be Chief Executive of Alliance Boots and Chief Operating Officer of Asda.He has been on Whitbread's board since September 2009 and will succeed Habgood on September 1st."We have conducted a thorough search, with the help of executive search consultants, to identify the most suitable person to become the next Chairman of Whitbread," said Sir Ian Cheshire, Whitbread's Senior Independent Director who led the recruitment process."We were lucky enough to have a very strong field of potential candidates but at the end it was clear to us that Richard was the best choice to take on the role of Chairman."Habgood said that Baker is the "right person to chair the board for the next phase of its development".BC