Richard Franks has stepped down as managing director of bakery café group Apostrophe, M&C has learnt.
Franks, who was appointed following the acquisition of the brand by catering company CH&Co last year, left the company in mid-June and a new MD has not yet been named.
Ch&Co told M&C the day to day direction of Apostrophe is now being led by Deborah Homshaw, operations director at Host Contract Management (HCM), which merged with CH&Co in June, with support from business owner Tim Jones.
The Apostrophe brand did not transfer as part of the merger and is currently still in the ownership of Tim and Robyn Jones. Homshaw and the management team are working on a number of menu developments that are being introduced on an ongoing basis.
Franks had been appointed to lead the growth of the London-based café-bakery business having previously worked at Harris + Hoole and Eat during periods of rapid expansion.
Stuart Lawson, who appointed Franks last year, stepped down as chief executive of CH&Co when it merged with HCM Group in June to become CH&Co Group.
HCM’s chief executive, Bill Toner, is now Group chief executive, with CH&Co’s co-founders, Robyn and Tim Jones, continuing in their previous roles as founder and chairman respectively.
Apostrophe was founded in 2001 by entrepreneur Amir Chen and was wholly acquired by CH&Co in April 2014. Chen remained with the group to oversee a smooth transition of ownership before moving on to pursue other projects including Soupologie.
