Ivan Schofield, former chief executive of Itsu and Ed’s Easy Diner, has joined the board of Buffalo Grill, the 356-strong French steakhouse concept, as its non-executive chairman.
Schofield’s appointment and that of new chief executive Jocelyn Olive, formerly general manager of Burger King France, comes after the business was acquired at the start of the year by TDR Capital in a c£350m deal.
Schofield was previously managing director of KFC France from 2003 to 2011, then managing director of KFC Western Europe from 2011 to 2015. He is also currently an independent non-executive director at Hollywood Bowl Group, the UK’s largest ten-pin bowling operator.
“We are delighted to welcome both Jocelyn and Ivan to Buffalo Grill. We are confident that they will make a strong contribution to accelerating the success of this great brand and strengthening the positions of the French favourite food brand,” said Mark Budd, partner at TDR Capital.
In October 2017, Buffalo Grill shareholders announced that they had entered into exclusive negotiations with TDR Capital, which backs Stonegate Pub Company, for the sale of their interests in the company.
Following this, Mathieu Quéré , chairman of the executive board since 2014, had chosen to leave his position, no later than the end of March 2018 to ensure the transition.
Established in 1980, Buffalo Grill served more than 31 million meals in 2017 across its 356 restaurants.
The group achieved sales of €557m including taxes, has 7,750 employees (including franchised restaurants) and opened 18 new restaurants in 2017.
