The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) has appointed one of hospitality sector’s best-known leaders as its president.
Bob Ivell, chairman of Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), will join the senior team of the trade association, marking another significant milestone in the ongoing development of the ALMR, which has grown 30% each year for the past three years.
Steve Richards, chairman of the ALMR, said: “I am delighted Bob Ivell has joined the ALMR board as our president. He is one of the sector’s most respected leaders, and the depth of his experience makes him a great ambassador for our industry. His commitment reflects the importance of the ALMR, and the role it plays in taking business-critical messages to government.”
In addition to his role at M&B, Ivell is chairman of Carpetright and a non-executive director at Britvic and Charles Wells. In his career, he has held various senior roles, including serving as the long-term executive chairman at Scottish & Newcastle Retail and chairman at David Lloyd Leisure.
He said: “The ALMR has emerged as a uniting voice for our industry, representing businesses big and small. It successfully spans the spectrum of hospitality with over 200 pub, restaurant, bar and nightclub companies as members, and provides an essential voice to government, to MPs and to political influencers. The membership is strong and in our chief executive Kate Nicholls we have expert leadership. I’m looking forward to helping the association promote our industry’s growth agenda.”
Nicholls added: “I am delighted to welcome Bob to our team. As an organisation we are expanding rapidly, driven by a clear and compelling need for companies to come together as one voice and help government understand that the hospitality industry is an engine of growth that needs a free, fair and flexible market place in which to operate. Our members’ businesses are highly responsive to, and easily impacted by, increasing taxation and regulatory change, in its many forms. It is therefore vital that we continue to build and fortify our links with Whitehall, at all levels, and Bob’s contribution will prove invaluable.”
The creation of the new president position follows a number of other recent, high profile appointments. In 2015, both Robin Rowland of YO! Sushi and Peter Marks of Deltic Group joined the ALMR’s management board.
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