Karen Forrester has stepped down as CEO of Individual Restaurants, to be replaced by Andrew Garton, MCA understands.
The former TGI Fridays boss has led the Piccolino and Riva Blue operator since August 2021.
Garton joins from the retail side of the business, with Iceland founder and executive chairman Sir Malcolm Walker and Iceland MD Tarsem Dhaliwal backing the restaurant business.
Garton has been with Iceland for seven years, most recently as trading director. Before that he spent ten years at Morrison’s.
Individual Restaurants has around 33 restaurants, with 18 trading under Piccolino, six Restaurant Bar & Grills, four Riva Blue sites, and three under Piccolo.
In 2020 the business was acquired Ice Acquisitions, led by Walker and Dhaliwal, in a deal worth £40m.
In its last accounts, the group reported a loss after tax of £8.2m for the financial year ending 27 March 2022 (2021: loss of £23m).
The group reported adjusted group EBITDA of £3.1m, following a loss of £4m in 2021.
The group attributed the loss to a drop in sales due to the impact of cost of living pressures on the premium dining market.
