Former Tesco finance chief Laurie McIlwee to join the board of Giraffe restaurant chain and Ed’s Easy Diner parent group
A former Tesco finance chief is poised to join the board of the restaurant group that owns the likes of Giraffe and Ed’s Easy Diner, according to reports.
Laurie McIlwee has been appointed executive chairman of Boparan Restaurant Group, Sky News reported, months after being cleared of any involvement in Tesco’s 2014 profit overstatement scandal.
Read more: Tesco takes a hit on sale of Giraffe restaurants
Last summer, the Financial Reporting Council publicly cleared him of any wrongdoing in the affair. He was never officially named by the Council as being under investigation, and had been absent from the business for more than five months after resigning when the massive profit overstatement was released.
McIlwee’s appointment will reunite the former supermarket finance director with the Giraffe restaurant chain, which Tesco offloaded to Boparan last year as part of an effort to streamline the Big Four grocer.
Read more: Giraffe snaps up Ed's Easy Diner in pre-pack sale
Since leaving Tesco in 2014, he has undertaken a range of consultancy work for private equity firms, as well as serving as a non-executive director of the logistics firm Eddie Stobart Transport.
Boparan Restaurant Group also owns Harry Ramsden’s, FishWorks and the Cinnamon Club restaurant. Its owner, Ranjit Boparan, also controls 2 Sisters Food Group, which is the UK’s biggest supplier of poultry to major supermarkets.