The Board

The company is controlled by the Board of Directors and is constituted by the Chairman, 2 Executive and 2 Non-Executives Directors.

The Board is chaired by Chairman Luke Johnson who is responsible for the running of the Board and liaison with the Company’s shareholders; the Chief Executive Anne Ackord has executive responsibility for running the Group’s business and implementing the strategy of the Group.

The Board meets at least 10 times a year and has a formal schedule of matters reserved to it; this includes the strategy and direction of the Group, approval of annual and interim reporting, dividend policy and Board structure. The Board also sets the annual budgets for each of the four divisions and monitors the performance against those budgets together with approving capital expenditure. It also monitors the Groups exposure to the key business risks set out in detail in the annual published accounts.

Luke Johnson - Chairman

Luke joined The Brighton Pier Group PLC in June 2015 and has been involved in nightclub, bar and restaurant businesses since the age of 18. He was Chairman of Pizza Express Plc during the 1990s, co-founded the Strada restaurant chain and was Chairman of Giraffe for nine years until it was sold to Tesco for £50 million in 2013. He also served on the Board of My Kinda Town and currently chairs Bread Limited, the owner of the artisan bakery chain, Gail’s.

Luke joined the Board as Chairman in June 2015; he is also Chairman of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee.

Anne Ackord - Chief Executive Officer

Anne was MD of Brighton Marine Palace & Pier Company and associated businesses for over 12 years. Prior to this she was Operations Director for Bourne Leisure Limited, a leading holiday park operator where she was responsible for all on-park entertainment and the coordination of on-site activities managing a team of over 1,000 entertainers. She also was Director In Charge of retail across a 57 park estate. Anne was previously the first female Area Director at Welcome Break a position she held for over 4 years, managing large motorway service areas and coordinating national training initiatives during periods of the company’s expansion. She has also served as an Independent Governor in FE colleges where she was Chair of the HR and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Anne was appointed to the Board as Chief Executive Officer of the Group in April 2017.

John Smith - Chief Financial Officer

Since qualifying as a Chartered Accountant (ACA) with Touche Ross & Co in 1985, John has held a variety of senior finance roles, including Head of Finance at International Currency Exchange plc after which he then became Group Finance Director at Vision Express until it was sold to Grand Vision in 1997. After two years as Joint UK Managing Director of Vision Express, post the acquisition, John became Finance Director of First Leisure Corporation plc in 1999, before taking over as Chief Executive in 2003. He then took on the role of Chief Executive of The Nightclub Company, which was created through the purchase of 22 nightclubs from the receiver of First Leisure. John became Finance Director of Eclectic Bars Limited in June 2006.

John became the Chief Financial Officer when the Group listed in November 2013.

In addition, he is also a member of the Risk and ESG committee.

Dr. Duncan Garrood - Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

Duncan has significant expertise in the consumer and leisure sectors with a career spanning over 40 years. He has Board level experience of private and public businesses, and currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of Empiric Student Property plc, the FTSE 250 provider of premium accommodation and services to students at many of the UK's top universities. Previously, Duncan served as a senior adviser to Blue Crescent Capital, an independent private equity firm and for the past six years as Chairman of Small Beer Brew Co, an independent low alcohol brewer in South London. Duncan was CEO of Ten Entertainment plc, one of the UK's leading family entertainment companies between 2018 and 2020. Prior to Ten Entertainment, Duncan was CEO of Bill's Restaurants, overseeing 80 sites and 3,000 employees. Prior to joining Bill's Restaurants, Duncan was CEO at Punch Taverns Limited (formerly Punch Taverns plc), the UK's second largest pub company with over 3,500 pubs. Duncan has further previously served on the Board as President of M.H Alshaya where he was responsible for the Group's food division, and before that was Regional Vice President of SC Johnson. He began his career at Unilever PLC, serving for over 20 years in a variety of management positions in the UK and latterly Shanghai, China.

Duncan became a member of the Board in May 2024; he is the Senior Independent Non- Executive Director in which capacity he Chair’s the Risk and ESG committee, he is also a member of the Audit Committee and a member of Nominations and Remuneration Committee.

Paul Viner - Non-Executive Director

Paul is a Chartered Accountant, having worked predominantly in the leisure sector. He was previously Finance Director at Tottenham Hotspur Plc. Paul subsequently moved to Riva Gaming Group, where he was involved in both an MBI and later an MBO. He then spent several years in the property sector before being appointed CFO of Giraffe Concepts Limited in March 2009. Paul was a key part of the management team that sold Giraffe to Tesco Plc for £50 million. Paul left Giraffe in late 2014 to set up his own business, Intelligent Goat Limited, which, amongst other services, provides mentoring advice for Finance Directors and CEOs. He was also CEO of Feng Sushi, leaving in 2017 after its sale and is currently the global CFO of Xstrahl, a life sciences and medical systems business. Paul’s experience as a Non-Executive Director extends to positions in the arts, culture and bingo sectors.

Paul became a member of the Board in July 2015; he is an Independent Director in which capacity he Chair's the Audit Committee.