Wagamama owner serves up ex-HBOS chief Hornby as new boss

Andy Hornby, the former HBOS chief executive, is to end a decade-long absence from the London stock market by becoming the next boss of The Restaurant Group (TRG), the owner of Wagamama and Garfunkel's.

Sky News can reveal that Mr Hornby, the joint chief operating officer of Ladbrokes' parent company, GVC Holdings, is close to being appointed as Andy McCue's successor.

TRG's board is understood to have identified Mr Hornby as its preferred candidate in recent days, prompting him to tender his resignation from GVC, according to a source close to the gaming group.

An announcement could be made as soon as Thursday morning, the source said.

If confirmed, his appointment at one of the UK's biggest quoted restaurant operators will represent a significant milestone in Mr Hornby's career.

The businessman spent nearly two-and-a-half years at the helm of HBOS, which had grown into Britain's biggest mortgage lender at the time that it was persuaded by the-then Labour government to agree to an emergency takeover by Lloyds TSB.

The merged lender, Lloyds Banking Group, was swiftly bailed out by taxpayers with a £20bn capital injection, and Mr Hornby left as the deal was being consummated.

Prior to his stint at HBOS, Mr Hornby had enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of corporate life, including senior roles at Asda under Archie Norman, the former Conservative MP who now chairs Marks & Spencer.

Despite his tenure at the bank coinciding with its descent into a financial abyss, few observers in politics or the City blamed him for having continued to implement a strategy at HBOS that was largely inherited from his predecessor, James Crosby.

After a nine-month spell on the sidelines, Mr Hornby became chief executive of Alliance Boots, the owner of Boots The Chemist, which at the time was controlled by the private equity giant KKR.

His appointment there in June 2009 prompted him to resign from his other listed company role as a non-executive director of Home Retail Group, the-then owner of Argos and Homebase.

Mr Hornby stayed for less than two years at Alliance Boots, resigning in March 2011 before resurfacing four months later as the boss of Coral, the high street bookmaker.‎

Since then, he has won plaudits internally for his work running the day-to-day operations of some of the UK's biggest gambling businesses.

GVC, the quoted company which owns the chain as well as online betting brands such as partypoker, has been wrestling with shareholder unrest in recent months following a decision by its chairman and chief executive to offload shares worth £20m.

It has kicked off a search for a new chairman to replace Lee Feldman, with Kenny Alexander, the chief executive, also expected to step down in the next couple of years.

Assuming he is confirmed in the role, Mr Hornby will need to hit the ground running at Restaurant Group, which completed the acquisition of Wagamama in December despite objections from a vocal minority of shareholders.

The company has a market value of just over £700m, having seen its shares fall by more than a third during the last 12 months.

Mr McCue said in February that he would step down because of "extenuating personal circumstances", having only just orchestrated the Wagamama acquisition from Duke Street Capital.

TRG's board, which is chaired by Debbie Hewitt, is said by a leading shareholder to have conducted an extensive search for Mr McCue's successor.

In March, the company unveiled a stronger-than-expected set of full-year results but signalled that it would seek to exit a number of poorly performing outlets in the coming months.

As well as Wagamama and Garfunkel's, the company trades under the Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito and Brunning & Price brands.

It operates more than 650 sites across the UK, and is expanding its airport concessions and pub restaurant businesses.

TRG and GVC declined to comment on Wednesday.