Former Paul CEO Jean-Michel Orieux has been named as the new chair of Comptoir Group, the owner and operator of Lebanese, Middle Eastern and North African-inspired restaurants.
Mr Orieux, who has served as a non-executive director since August 2022, will replace Dr Beatrice Lafon, who has resigned from the board to pursue other business interests.
Nick Ayerst, CEO of Comptoir Group, said: “I would like to thank Beatrice for her considerable contribution to Comptoir during an important period of evolution for the group, and especially for her role in the rebuilding of key business foundations which suffered during Covid, the development of our current strategy and the recruitment and induction of our new senior management team.”
Additionally, Ali Aneizi has been appointed as a non-executive director. He has extensive sector and professional services experience spanning almost 30 years.
Mr Aneizi was formerly a corporate finance partner and co-head of leisure and hospitality at RSM where he spent 18 years, prior to establishing Tamweel Capital in 2013.
Comptoir Group PLC owns and operates 29 restaurants, six of which are franchised, based predominately in the UK.
The flagship brand of the group, Comptoir Libanais is a collection of 23 restaurants located across London and nationwide, including cities such as Manchester, Bath, Birmingham, Oxford and Exeter.
The group also operates Shawa, serving traditional shawarmas through a counter service model in Westfield and Bluewater shopping centres, Yalla-Yalla near Oxford Circus, and entertainment venue Kenza, located in Devonshire Square, London.
The group has expanded internationally with its franchise partners and now has restaurants in the Netherlands, Qatar, UAE and Italy.
