Simon Cope has been appointed as Managing Director of Byron Hamburgers Ltd (“Byron”). Simon joins from Wagamama where, over the past four years, he played a significant role in the turnaround that has seen double digit like-for-like growth for the last three consecutive years.

Joining Byron in July, Simon will sit on the Executive Board and lead the next stage of the brand’s evolution, focusing on marketing, food development and property. He will report to acting Executive Chairman, Dalton Philips, until the search for a new Chief Executive Officer is complete as Andrew Manders decided to leave the business for personal reasons.

Simon Cope, Managing Director of Byron, commented: “As the pioneers of proper hamburgers in the UK, Byron is uniquely well placed to take advantage of the significant growth opportunity that exists for premium brands in the UK’s casual dining market. I’m delighted to be joining such an inspirational team, helping to build Byron’s future at this exciting time.”

Mauro Moretti, Founder and Managing Partner of THCP who recently joined the board of Byron, commented: “We are very excited about Simon joining the team, given that he is such an inspirational professional. We hope that this will be the starting point of a longstanding relationship involving other Three Hills’ consumer facing businesses. We are really looking forward to working with him in the coming years.”