Kara Alderin
Director of Operations
Kara oversees the operations of the pubs with rooms, stretching from Wandsworth to the Cotswolds and across the South of England. Kara has specific responsibility for leading the operations teams, capital development investments and acquisitions, sales and profits, Young’s Rooms strategy, and delivery of our individual differentiated pub proposition.
Kara studied Hospitality Management and joined Youngs in July 2020 having previously worked for Abokado and Fullers.
Jon Falarczyk
Director of Operations
Jon was appointed Director of Operations in October 2022 and oversees the operations of South West London, Central London, the City and home counties. He has specific responsibility for sales and profit conversion, succession and development of operations managers, oversight of delivery, return on capital expenditure projects and integration of new acquisitions. Jon studied Hospitality Management and joined Young’s as an Operations Manager in March 2018, having previously worked for a number of years at Mitchells & Butlers.
Stuart Gallyot
Director of Property
Stuart heads up the property team and has overall responsibility for delivering the capital expenditure and development plans for existing pubs, acquisitions of new pubs in premium locations, maintenance of the buildings and estate management. Stuart is a Chartered Surveyor and joined Young’s in November 2021. He has 30 years’ experience in the licensed trade having previously worked for Stonegate, Ei Group, Punch Taverns, and Scottish & Newcastle Retail.
Gail Khan
Director of HR
Gail oversees the HR function, with responsibility for HR support, policy design and employee relations. Gail graduated from the University of Cape Town with a BSS in Industrial & Organisational Psychology and from Kingston University with a post-graduate diploma in Human Resource Management. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development. Gail joined Young’s in May 1995 and is a trustee of the company’s pension and life assurance schemes.
Chris Knights
Director of Food
Chris has responsibility for the group’s food operations including development of food menus, suppliers, delivering health & safety within the business, overseeing the succession and development of chefs and kitchen teams, and ensuring the appropriate training & development programmes are put in place. Chris is a chef by trade and joined Young’s in April 2011 having previously worked within food service, retail and an array of restaurants and pubs.
Grant Macfarlane
Director of IT
Grant leads the technology function within Young’s, overseeing a team of retail, infrastructure, systems development, and support professionals. He also manages the relationships with our external software, hardware and support partners. Grant holds a BA in Economics and Business Law, and an MSc in Information Systems Management. He joined Young’s in July 2022 with over twenty years of hospitality experience, having previously led technology teams for national and international hotel groups.
Gillian McLaren
Director of Marketing
Gillian leads the group marketing strategy and is responsible for driving premium value through individuality, consistency, brand awareness, growing and strengthening our community of advocates and broadening reach through digital and sales conversion. Gillian is also responsible for commercial procurement of our premium drink offer and maximising commercial value. Gillian is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and joined Young’s in August 1998 having previously worked for Scottish & Newcastle plc, Courage Limited, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines & TrustHouse Forte.
Aly Neale
Director of Operations
Aly oversees pub operations in the North, West and South London regions. Whilst leading business excellence and innovation within her region, Aly has specific responsibility for sales and profit conversion, succession and development of operations managers, oversight of delivery and return on capital expenditure projects.
Aly joined Young’s in 2023, having previously worked at 580 Group, Fuller’s, Mitchells and Butlers, Marriot and other independent business and consultancy organisations.