David Webster, chairman of IHG, has announced that he is to retire in December 2012, with group chief executive Patrick Cescau taking his place from January 1 2013.
Webster has been with IHG since April 2003, when he was appointed to the board, and in January 2014 became non-executive chairman.
He served in the Royal Naval Reserves in Britain between 1962 and 1970, before becoming non-executive director of Reed Elsevier PLC. He then went on the co-found Safeway PLC, retiring as chairman in 2004 when the company merged with WM Morrison.
Webster is a knight of the order of St. John, is on the board of Temple Bar Investment Trust and non-executive director of Amadeus IT Holding SA.
Webster said: "My time with IHG has truly been a career highlight for me and I leave with a feeling of achievement for all that has been done since demerger in 2003. I’m proud of the total shareholder return delivered over this period and I leave confident that a strong business with a sustainable growth strategy is in place."
Patrick Cesau, who will take on Webster’s role at the group, has been a non-executive director of Tesco PLC since 2009, and was appointed the company’s senior independant director in July 2010. He is also a non-executive director of Pearson PLC.
Cesau has previously been group chief executive of Unilever, between 2005 and 2008, after having joined the company in 1973 in France. He is also a trustee of the Leverhulme Trust and chairman of the St Jude Children Charity, as well as being appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in 2005.
Cesau said: "I’m excited to be joining the IHG board in January of next year and working with Richard Solomons on the next phase of growth for this fantastic company following the well-charted course set by my predecessor. My fellow board members and I look forward to guiding IHG to even greater achievements as we focus on brand building and the strategic global expansion of the business in the near term and future."
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