AUDIT COMMITTEE
Aisling Meany (chair)
Nick Miller
Sarah Sergeant
REMUNERATION COMMITTEE
Nick Miller (chair)
Aisling Meany
Sarah Sergeant
Stephen Goodyear
Non-Executive Chairman
Stephen has considerable knowledge of, and passion for, Young’s and the industry. He began his career with Courage Ltd in 1974 and joined Young’s in 1995. In 2003, he became chief executive and oversaw the sale of the Ram Brewery, the creation of the tenanted Ram Pub Company and the transformation of Young’s into a premium managed house business. The latter involved the acquisition of Geronimo Inns at the end of 2010 and the creation of a growing ‘pubs with rooms’ operation. In 2016, Stephen stepped down as chief executive and became a non-executive director.
Simon Dodd
Chief Executive
Simon was appointed chief executive in July 2022. He joined the company as chief operating officer in September 2019 with responsibility for the group’s managed house operations, including marketing. Having spent more than 20 years working in the pub and brewing sector, Simon has a wealth of experience. Before starting at Young’s, Simon was an executive director at Fuller’s and managing director of their beer company (2016–19) – previously, he was the operations director of their City pubs division (2015–16). Prior to joining Fuller’s, Simon was chief operating officer (2013–14) and commercial director (2006–13) at the Orchid Pub Company.
Mike Owen
Chief Financial Officer
Mike has overall stewardship of the group’s finance functions (including strategy, forecasting, reporting, tax, treasury, and risk management) and, since 1 October 2020, is responsible for the group’s technological needs. He has a strong passion for the industry having been group finance and IT director at Hall & Woodhouse Ltd (2016–19), head of European and then global deployment in the global business services division of SAB Miller PLC (2014–16), and finance and IT director at Miller Brands (UK&I) Ltd (2008–14). Mike is a qualified accountant.
Tracy Dodd
People Director
Tracy is responsible for all things people including HR, recruitment, training development, succession planning, internal communications and health and safety. She joined Young’s in 2015; prior to this Tracy was at the Orchid Pub Company (2006–14) where she held several senior positions including head of learning and development. Tracy plays a pivotal role ensuring our rich, premium (slightly quirky) heritage lives throughout the business, whilst remaining cognisant of the important regulatory backdrop including equality, diversity and team wellbeing.
Mark Loughborough
Retail Director
Mark was appointed to the board as retail director in September 2022 and is responsible for the group’s managed operations, including food development. Mark joined Young’s as operation’s manager in February 2011, being promoted to director of operations in 2017 and senior director of operations in 2021. He has over 25 years of experience in hospitality and has played an important role in shaping the operational direction of Young’s over the last decade.
Nick Miller
Senior Independent Non-Executive Director
Nick has a wealth of experience in hospitality, leisure and brewing. He was the CEO of Meantime Brewing Company (2011–16) and before that he was the managing director of Miller Brands, the UK arm of SAB Miller – the multinational brewing and beverage company. Nick has an excellent reputation in the industry. He is a particularly perceptive businessman, with significant experience and demonstrable career success at both Meantime and SAB Miller.
Steve Cooke
Independent Non-Executive Director
Steve is an experienced adviser, helping companies in a variety of sectors including consumer, leisure, media, retail and real estate. He is a partner at Brunswick – the international advisory firm. Before that, he spent 41 years at the law firm Slaughter and May, including 33 as a partner and was head of mergers and acquisitions from 2001–16 and the senior partner of the firm from 2016–24. He will take over as chairman of Young’s in July 2024.
Aisling Meany
Independent Non-Executive Director
Aisling took over as chair of the Audit Committee in January 2024. She has considerable investment banking, capital markets and financial services experience. At Rothschild & Co, she is currently Co-CEO of Redburn Atlantic, a director of Rothschild & Co Equity Markets Solutions Limited., COO of the equity advisory business and a managing director in the equity advisory team. During her 14 years at Rothschild & Co. she has also held the positions of director in the corporate development and strategy team and vice president in the financial institutions M&A team. Aisling holds a Master’s in Finance from the London Business School and qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Sarah Sergeant
Independent Non-Executive Director
Sarah has a wealth of experience in the leisure/hospitality and property sectors and brings considerable financial, strategic, and operational experience to the Young’s board. She was recently the chief financial officer, and an executive director of Watkin Jones PLC. Sarah was previously the chief financial officer of the UK & Ireland region at Compass Group PLC. During her 13 year tenure at Compass, she held a number of senior finance and operational roles, including group financial controller, M&A director, and CFO of the Asia Pacific region, based in Singapore. Sarah is a chartered accountant.
Torquil Sligo-Young
Non-Executive Director
Torquil joined Young’s in 1985, becoming an executive director in 1997. During his time as a director, he was responsible for personnel, health and safety, and the group’s technological needs, and he also headed up the company’s in-house CSR team. In 2020, Torquil stepped down as an executive director and became a non-executive director. He is chairman of a charitable trust set up by William Allen Young, a founder of the business, and, due to his length of service and knowledge of Young’s, is chairman of Young’s Pension Trustees Limited – the trustee company that manages the Young & Co.’s Brewery, P.L.C. Pension Scheme. Torquil, being a member of the founding family, helps the company keep in touch with family shareholders.
Chris Taylor
Company Secretary
Chris provides counsel to the board on various governance, legal and regulatory issues affecting the group. He also provides leadership and advice on sustainability, and is a member of the leadership team. Chris is an experienced chartered secretary having held positions at a number of listed companies including Guinness, Diageo and Orange, and prior to joining Young’s he was company secretary of Sky plc. He was also part of the Young’s company secretarial team earlier in his career. Chris is a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute.