Greene King’s Rooney Anand appointed chairman of Casual Dining Group

Restaurant operator Casual Dining Group (CDG) has announced the appointment of Rooney Anand as its new chairman effective from December, replacing Martin Robinson who stepped down from his role after four years.

Anand has been chief executive officer of pub company Greene King for 14 years and is stepping down at the end of April, 2019. He is credited with turning Greene King from a small regional brewery and pub business into the UK’s leading pub company. Anand was named ‘Business Leader of the Year’ at the 2016 Lloyds Bank National Business Awards and was also recently appointed chairman of WorldSkills UK, the education and skills charity from January.

Steve Richards, CEO of Casual Dining Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Rooney to CDG as our new chairman. Rooney brings with him exceptional sector experience and everyone at CDG is looking forward to working with him. On behalf of the board, I’d like to thank Martin for his contribution to CDG over the past four years and we wish him well.”

Rooney Anand, chairman of Casual Dining Group added: “I’m very much looking forward to supporting Steve and the management team, helping them to build on the solid foundations they’ve established at CDG as they continue to grow and develop the business in the fast moving and competitive casual dining market.”