Martin Taylor appointed M&B CIO

See also: Profile of M&B COO Robin Young

Pubs and casual dining chain Mitchells & Butlershas appointed Martin Taylor as its CIO. Taylor, who has worked at M&B since 2007 replaces Mike Sackman who left for Argos in March.

Since Sackman’s departure, the role has been filled on an interim basis by Tony Bentham who will stay on until November.

Taylor currently has responsibility for infrastructure and services delivery and has been a key player in the company’s efforts to upgrade the 1,600 branch network to a utility procurement model. He was also involved in the deployment of wifi services to M&B customers and staff.

He has over 25 years’ experience of working in IT, starting in 1985 at Whitbread, joining its graduate training scheme. After 15 years, he moved to CSC, working on accounts such as BAE Systems, Anglian Water and BHS.

Commenting on the internal appointment, M&B COO Robin Young said: “One of the long term strengths of Mitchells & Butlers is its commitment to people development. Weather, trends, economic changes and demographics move constantly, we continue to succeed because our teams are able to adapt and learn very quickly.

“The core of our people plan is built around proper succession planning, providing our internal talent with the missing pieces of their armour to grow into bigger roles.

“Martin has been one of our up and coming superstars and, with the opportunity of the CIO vacancy, we have invested the time and effort into getting him 100% ready for the next level. Nothing beats internal, long term business experience and relationships coupled with great coaching and training.”

The move comes at a crucial time for M&B, which is undergoing a transformation programme. In January, it signed a hosted, pay-per-use infrastructure deal with Fujitsu.