Wagamama hires M&B marketing chief: Wagamama, the Japanese-inspired restaurant chain, has hired Simon Cope as its new marketing, property and international franchising director. Cope joins from Mitchells & Butlers where he worked for twelve years in a number of senior marketing roles, most recently as marketing director. Prior to that, he worked for Britvic Soft Drinks in marketing and sales roles for the Pepsi brand. This position is a new senior role created at Wagamama, reflecting the continued successful expansion of the Company both in the UK and in other international markets. Cope will have responsibility for the Wagamama’s overall brand position, with his role encompassing marketing, property and the international franchising business, which collectively cover all the Group’s key brand and consumer touch points. His focus will be on further strengthening the brand and marketing strategy to ensure that the business continues to successfully identify and leverage consumer insights to create offerings that surprise and delight customers. Wagamama chairman David Williams said: “We are delighted to make this appointment to the leadership team at Wagamama. Simon brings with him a wealth of industry experience from his previous role as Marketing Director of Mitchells & Butlers. His in-depth understanding of both the UK consumer and the industry will be invaluable to us as we continue to develop the Wagamama brand. Simon joins the team at an exciting stage in Wagamama’s development, as we recently accelerated the Group’s expansion programme, with plans to open 15-20 sites per year in the coming years. The strength of the Wagamama brand, coupled with an awareness of our customer demands in the increasing competitive marketplace, will be core to supporting this exciting growth both in the UK and international markets. We look forward to working with Simon and welcome him to the team.”