Thistle Hotels Plc has today announced the appointment of Stephen Young and Stuart Burnett as Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer respectively of Thistle Hotels. They replace Hartley Sutcliffe and Andrew Bould. Stephen Young joins the Board and Hartley Sutcliffe steps down on 30 May 2000. Stuart Burnett joins the Board and Andrew Bould steps down on 15 May 2000.

In welcoming the two new Executive Directors to the Board, Ian Burke, Chief Executive Officer of Thistle Hotels said “Thistle has made good progress in the last two years and the Board is grateful for the contributions of Hartley and Andrew and wish them well in the future. The new appointments reflect the requirement of the business going forward. Stephen Young and Stuart Burnett`s background will help us to build the business and improve its performance further”.

Stephen Young (aged 44) who joins as Finance Director was most recently Group Finance Director of the Automobile Association (AA). Prior to joining the AA he was Group Financial Controller for seven years at EMI Group Plc. During his early career, he had spells with Ford, Mars Confectionery and Grand Metropolitan Plc, in a variety of finance roles. He is a mathematics graduate and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Stuart Burnett (aged 52) who joins as Chief Operating Officer has twenty years experience in the hotel industry. For the past ten years, he was a member of the Executive Committee and Finance Director of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group based in Hong Kong. Before joining Mandarin Oriental, he was General Manager of E.G. Abela Management with operational responsibility for hotels and restaurants in Europe and the USA, a role that he undertook after four years with Forte in the UK. He has an MBA from Cranfield Business School and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

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