The Restaurant Group appoints new chief executive: The Restaurant Group has named Danny Breithaupt as its new chief executive. He will join the Board on 1 September 2014 at which point he will take up the position of chief executive following the retirement of Andrew Page at the end of August. Over the next few months he will be working closely with Page to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities. Breithaupt is currently managing director of the group’s leisure business. He originally joined The Restaurant Group in 2001 and has held a number of senior positions in the Group before taking on his current role in 2012. His earlier career included a number of years in Whitbread. Breithaupt’s appointment follows completion of an extensive search carried out by a leading executive search firm. Alan Jackson, chairman of The Restaurant Group, said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Danny Breithaupt as chief executive officer of The Restaurant Group plc following the retirement of Andrew Page at the end of August 2014. Danny is a highly experienced, senior member of the company’s executive team and has been instrumental in developing and steering our Leisure business to its current market leading position. He has a unique insight into the company and the skillset to continue The Restaurant Group’s highly successful strategy”.

Domino’s reports 10.8% like-for-likes in first quarter: Domino’s Pizza, the pizza delivery group with stores in the UK, Germany, Republic of Ireland and Switzerland, has reported system sales rose by 14.8% to £188.5m (2013: £164.1m) in the 13 weeks to 30 March, largely driven by strong like-for-like sales growth in the first part of the quarter. Like-for-like sales in the UK in 725 mature stores increased by 10.8% (2013: 6.6% in 670 mature stores) thanks in part to our most successful meal deal ever offered – the Winter Survival Deal – and some weaker comparative figures due to the impact of snow in the early weeks of the same period last year. In addition, like-for-like sales, in euros, in the Republic of Ireland remained in positive territory, rising by 3.4% (2013: 8.1%) in the period. The proportion of sales taken via e-commerce continues to grow with 69.4% of all UK delivered sales (2013: 61.9% of UK delivered sales) now coming via the internet. Sales taken through all online platforms were up 25% to £103m (2013: £82.4m) and, of this, 34% was taken through mobile devices (2013: 25.2%). In the German market the Group continues to implement its plan focused on establishing successful store level economics. Like-for-like sales, in euros, in 17 mature stores (2013: 6 mature stores) were up by 3.2% (2013: 40.3%). In Switzerland, like-for-like sales, in Swiss Francs, in the ten mature stores were up by 1.8% in the period. David Wild, interim chief executive, said: “We are pleased with the like-for-like performance in our core UK and ROI business. The pipeline and franchisee demand for new stores is healthy. Whilst we expect the number of sites opened in the year to be second half weighted, we remain confident in delivering our target of 40-50 new stores in 2014. Like-for-like growth in Germany remains subdued as we transition our stores across to franchisee ownership and focus on store level economics. In Switzerland, we are refreshing the estate, remaining on course to reach break even by the final quarter of 2014/early 2015. In summary, although it is still early and we face some tough comparatives later in the year, the plans we have in place are strong and I look forward with optimism.” Stephen Hemsley, chairman, added: “This is a pleasing set of results for the UK and ROI and we continue to implement our stated plans for Germany and Switzerland. The process for finding a new CEO is well advanced and the Board looks forward to updating the market in the near future.”