Young’s has announced that Steve Goodyear is to stand down as non-executive chairman and will retire from the board following the company’s annual general meeting in July 2024.
He will be succeeded in this role by corporate lawyer Steve Cooke, currently of Slaughter and May.
Steve Goodyear has served as chairman of the company since July 2017.
Having overseen Simon Dodd assume the chief executive role last July, the board agrees next year is the right time for him to step down, Young’s said in a statement.
Goodyear was previously chief executive from 2003 to July 2016, at which point he stood down and became a non-executive director.
During his time at the company, he has overseen a transformation of Young’s into a “premium, individual and differentiated managed house operator of pubs with rooms”, the company said.
He originally joined the company in 1995, having previously worked in a number of senior positions across the industry for over 20 years.
Steve Cooke will join the board as a non-executive director on 1 November 2023, before transitioning to non-executive chairman in July 2024 after the company’s 2024 AGM.
Cooke is currently the senior partner at law firm Slaughter and May and has a wealth of corporate experience having joined the firm in 1982 before heading its mergers and acquisitions practice from 2001 to 2016.
He has advised companies in the consumer, leisure, media and retail sectors, and will retire from Slaughter and May on 30 April 2024.
Steve Goodyear said: “Steve Cooke is an exceptional corporate lawyer with an excellent reputation who has risen to senior partner at one of the most admired law firms in the world. He will bring a strong and valuable external perspective to the board, and I’m delighted that, with the full support of the board, he will be joining Young’s as a non-executive director in November before taking over as chairman in July 2024.”
