Marston's names Andrew Andrea as new chief executive

Andrew Andrea is to take over as chief executive of pub group Marston's from 3 October.

It follows the decision by the group's current boss Ralph Findlay to step down from the role in the autumn after 20 years with the business.

Marston's operates around 1,500 pubs and employs 11,000 people.

"Despite the challenges of the last year, I am confident that we have a great team of energised and engaged people to deliver our vision, and I look forward to working with them and the Board to return the business to growth and optimise the future opportunities available to us," said Andrea.

With over 23 years' experience in the pub and brewing industry, Andrea has a long history with the group and is currently Marston's chief financial officer and corporate development officer.

During his tenure with the company he pioneered the franchise agreement model, which is now widely adopted across the pub industry, and co-ordinated Marston's move to take over the running of 156 S.A Brains pubs in Wales last year.

Over the past year Marston's also completed a merger with Carlsberg, valuing the pub group at £580m, and rejected an unsolicited takeover bid from a US private equity firm.

"Andrew was the strongest contender from a selection of extremely high calibre candidates under consideration and the unanimous choice of the Board for the role of chief executive officer," said Marston's chairman William Rucker.

"He has clear drive, ambition and outstanding execution skills and these attributes, together with his deep knowledge of – and empathy for – the business, equip him well to lead Marston's through the next stage of its development. The Board has every confidence in him and looks forward to continuing to work closely with him in future."

A search for Marston's new chief financial officer has already begun.