Lance Batchelor named chair of Burger King UK

Lance Batchelor has been appointed chair of Burger King UK (BKUK) and will be joining the board on 1 December.

He replaces Martin Robinson, who will be stepping down from the board and his role as chair after six years in the company.

Robison's tenure saw the extension of the BKUK estate into 280 sites through the launch of almost 100 new restaurants and the acquisition of 10 franchisees comprising 222 sites.

Batchelor is currently chair of AI-powered marketing platform Ometria and digital health monitoring business Appello. He is also non-executive director of the Royal Navy.

Prior to that, he was chief executive of Tesco Mobile, chief executive of Domino's Pizza Group and chief executive of Saga.

Alasdair Murdoch, chief executive of BKUK, said: "We look forward to welcoming Lance to BKUK as we continue to deliver against our ambitious growth plans. Lance brings with him extensive experience in the consumer and hospitality sector as well as a strong background in digital and marketing. We are excited about how these experiences and perspectives will help the business continue to grow and improve.

"I would also like to express our gratitude to Martin for his exceptional service to BKUK over the past six years. He has been an invaluable source of strategic counsel to myself and the Board, and his contributions leave BKUK in a position of strength as we focus on delivering continued sustainable growth."

Batchelor added: "BKUK is a fantastic and well-established brand with a dynamic and diversified business model, strong product offering and clear strategy for growth. I am fully committed to supporting Alasdair and the BKUK team to deliver against its strategy and am excited about the opportunities across the business."

BKUK first entered the UK market in 1976 and has since grown to 554 restaurants, 280 of which are directly owned while the rest are sub-franchisees.