Executive team

John Derkach

Position: Managing Director, Costa
Age: 52
At Whitbread: Joined Whitbread in 1995 as Marketing Director of Whitbread Beer Company, before becoming Managing Director of Beefeater in 1999. Appointed CEO of Pizza Hut (UK) in 2002 and Managing Director of Costa in 2006.
Previous Experience: Spent three years at Procter & Gamble and ten years with Pepsi Cola International in the roles of UK Marketing Manager, UK Operations Director, Northern Europe Marketing Director and Area Vice President for Spain and Portugal.

Alan Parker, CBE (June 2008)

Position: Chief Executive (since June 2004)
Appointment to the Board: May 2000
Age: 62
Committee membership: Nomination Committee
External appointments: British Hospitality Association (Director), VisitBritain (Director), University of Surrey (Visiting Professor), World Travel & Tourism Council (Director), Jumeirah Group LLC (Non-executive director)
Previous experience: Managing Director of Crest Hotels Europe, based in Frankfurt and Senior Vice-President of Holiday Inn Europe, Middle East and Africa, based in Brussels. He joined Whitbread in 1992 as Managing Director of Whitbread Hotel Company.

Christopher Rogers

Position: Finance Director
Appointment to the Board: May 2005
Age: 49
External appointments: HMV Group plc (Non-executive director)
Previous experience: Qualified as an accountant with Price Waterhouse before joining Kingfisher plc in 1988. Subsequent roles included Group Financial Controller at Kingfisher plc, Finance Director, and then Commercial Director, at Comet Group plc before becoming Finance Director at Woolworths Group plc.

Patrick Dempsey

Position: Managing Director, Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants
Appointment to the Board: January 2009
Age: 50
External appointments:
Hospitality Action
Previous experience: Joined Whitbread in 2004 and has been in the hotel and restaurant business for the past thirty years. Previously he was with Forte Hotels for twenty years, before joining Compass Group as CEO of Restaurant Associates. In 2005, he became Managing Director of Premier Inn.

John Derkach

Position: Managing Director, Costa
Age: 52
At Whitbread: Joined Whitbread in 1995 as Marketing Director of Whitbread Beer Company, before becoming Managing Director of Beefeater in 1999. Appointed CEO of Pizza Hut (UK) in 2002 and Managing Director of Costa in 2006.
Previous Experience: Spent three years at Procter & Gamble and ten years with Pepsi Cola International in the roles of UK Marketing Manager, UK Operations Director, Northern Europe Marketing Director and Area Vice President for Spain and Portugal.

Louise Smalley

Position: Group Human Resources Director
Age: 41
At Whitbread: Joined Whitbread in 1995 as HR Projects Manager of Pizza Hut (UK). Served as HR Director of David Lloyd Leisure and then Whitbread Restaurants before becoming Group Human Resources Director in 2007.
Previous Experience: Spent five years working as a human resources professional in the oil industry with BP and Esso Petroleum.

Simon Barratt

Position: General Counsel
Age: 49
At Whitbread: Joined the Group in 1991 as Group Legal Adviser, before becoming Company Secretary and Group Legal Affairs Director in 1997. Has had accountability for group development and was a director of Whitbread Pension Trustees Limited between 1997 and 2009.
Previous experience: Trained as a solicitor at Slaughter and May and then held positions in the legal teams at Rio Tinto and Heron prior to joining Whitbread.