Franchise Brands appoints group CEO, considers main market move

Franchise Brands announced the appointment of Peter Molloy as its first group chief executive officer with immediate effect on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm said Molloy, who previously served as chief executive of the water and waste services division, would now oversee the group’s day-to-day operations across its four principal divisions and central functions.

He would also focus on driving business performance and accelerating the integration of the company’s recent acquisitions.

It confirmed that he had also been appointed as a director on the board.

Franchise Brands said it had experienced significant growth over the past two years, following the acquisitions of Filta and Pirtek.

The group now had annualised system sales of about £400m, and operates seven franchise brands across 10 countries in the UK, Europe and North America.

It said the rapid expansion had prompted the board to re-evaluate the company's leadership structure and corporate governance to align with its growth potential.

Stephen Hemsley would remain as executive chairman, continuing to focus on the strategic and corporate development of the group, including finance and future acquisitions.

The company also announced that it was considering a move from AIM to the main market of the London Stock Exchange.

It said the potential move reflected its ambitions for further growth and scale.

The board said the appointment of a group CEO was seen as the first step towards a more defined separation of responsibilities between day-to-day leadership and strategic oversight, with further announcements on the listing under consideration expected in due course.

“The group has reached a scale where the timing is right for the appointment of a group CEO at board level, to separate my responsibilities and provide greater focus on the strategic and commercial development of the business to support our ambitious growth plans,” said executive chairman Stephen Hemsley.

“Peter Molloy has been a key part of the Franchise Brands team since 2017 and has made an exceptional contribution in leading the substantial growth of Metro Rod and in the successful formation and integration of the water and waste services division.

“Peter has strong commercial acumen, and the board is confident that he will successfully drive the implementation of our strategic priorities, which includes an increased focus on digitally-enabled integration, enabling the group to realise its significant growth potential.”

At 0801 BST, shares in Franchise Brands were up 3.8% at 164p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.