Chair of Wagamama owner TRG steps down for 'personal reasons'

The chairman of Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) will step down from his role, amid pressure from investors to resign.

The group, which also operates Frankie & Berry’s and Chiquito, cited ‘personal reasons’ as it said Ken Hanna will not seek re-election next January at the company’s annual general meeting.

In July, Adam Katz, co-founder and chief executive officer of Irenic Capital called for Hanna to resign in a statement.

TRG owns Wagamama as well as other well-known high street brands

He accused of Hanna being partial to certain shareholders, which Katz said ‘undermines the fundamental tenet that all shareholders should be treated equally’.

Hanna has not been the only member of the board to receive backlash from investors.

Andy Hornby, CEO of TRG, has endured significant pressure rom some investors in relation to the company’s long-term share price weakness and four consecutive annual losses. 

In May, more than 45 per cent of voting investors – including Irenic Capital and Oasis Management – opposed The Restaurant Group’s pay report for last year when ex-HBOS chief executive Hornby, was handed £792,000.

And in a further blow to Hornby – who led Halifax owner HBOS to the brink of collapse in 2008 – nearly 16 per cent of shareholders also voted against his reappointment to the board. 

At the same time, almost a quarter opposed the reappointment of Ken Hanna as chairman and Zoe Morgan as head of the remuneration committee. 

Following the announcement, Hanna said: ‘It has been a privilege to work at TRG and I will be leaving the company in great shape with the business trading really strongly, outperforming the market and making good progress on its strategic options.’

Hornby added: ‘On behalf of the board I would like to thank Ken for his outstanding contribution to the business. 

‘He has been an exceptional chairman and a hugely valued colleague during a critically important period for TRG as we have successfully recovered from the Covid pandemic and made good progress with our strategy.’

Earlier this week, the group declared a £2.3million statutory pre-tax profit for the six months ending 2 July, compared to a £28.5million loss in the same period last year.

Profitability was supported by significantly lower impairment charges and a bumper trading performance boosting turnover by 10 per cent to £467.4million.

The Restaurant Group shares were up 6.56 per cent to 47.10p in morning trading on Friday.

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