Ex-Morrisons CEO takes burger role at Byron

Dalton Philips, the former‎ boss of supermarket chain Wm Morrison, is to return to the British high street in a leading role at one of Britain's fastest-growing casual dining groups.

Sky News has learnt that Mr Philips will on Thursday be named as the chairman of Byron, the upmarket burger chain.

It will be the former Morrisons chief's most prominent corporate role in the UK since he left the grocer at the beginning of last year following disappointing Christmas sales.

Mr Philips will join alongside Andrew Manders, formerly of the Fired Earth‎ retail chain, who will become Byron's chief executive in place of the founder, Tom Byng.

The duo will be charged by Byron's owner, the private equity group Hutton Collins, with accelerating the chain's expansion.

Mr Byng has decided to leave to pursue new entrepreneurial ventures.

Byron has already doubled in size by number of outlets and turnover since Hutton Collins took control three years ago, and restaurant industry analysts believe there is ample scope for it to double again to more than 140 sites over time.

Its turnover‎ last year was over £80m.

While the threat of inflation hangs over the sector, and declining demand in some areas has caused financial difficulty at chains such as Ed's Easy Diner, the premium burger market has continued to thrive.

GBK‎, one of Byron's main rivals, was recently taken over by the South African owner of Wimpy, while at the other end of the pricing spectrum the owner of Burger King (EUREX: 18860462.EX - news) is hunting a partner to invest in its UK operations.

Hutton Collins is an experienced investor in British restaurants, having held a stake in Wagamama, the Asian dining chain, for some years.

The arrival of Mr Philips and Mr Manders is expected to be announced later this week, with the new chairman a particularly notable appointment following his stint at the helm of one of the UK's big four supermarket chains.

A spokesman for Byron declined to comment.