Two C-suite bosses, the CEO and CFO at Restaurant Brands New Zealand, will retire in 2023. The multi-brand hospitality business has built a solid international presence under their long term stewardship.
Russel Creedy, group CEO, joined the business in 2001 as supply chain manager and served as GM for Pizza Hut in New Zealand. He took on the CEO role in 2007.
Creedy will retire on 31 March next year. “I have really enjoyed my time with the company, as well as the challenges over the years, and I am proud of its achievements,” he said.
Grant Ellis was appointed CFO in 1997 and leaves the business on 31 May 2023. He said “Restaurant Brands has been a big part of my life for the past 25 years and it has been a privilege to contribute to its growth and success over that time.”
Restaurant Brands is a corporate franchisee and specialises in managing multi-site branded food retail chains. Today the business operates 359 KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Carl’s Jr stores in New Zealand, Australia, California, and Hawaii. Restaurant Brands is also the master franchisor of 101 Pizza Hut stores in New Zealand.
CEO, CFO will be “greatly missed”
Chairman of the board, José Parés, said both Creedy and Ellis “have made an enormous contribution with their leadership and expertise to our company’s growth and transformation, and they will be greatly missed”.
Parés acknowledged their key role in the firm’s milestone of achieving more than one billion New Zealand dollars in sales for 2021.
After his retirement, Grant Ellis will serve as advisor to the RBD’s Chairman and new CFO, and Russel Creedy will serve as special advisor to Finaccess Capital and Subsidiaries, the majority shareholder of RBD.
The board of directors has announced it will start the search for a new CEO and CFO.