Directors' Biographies

Stephen Gee (Chairman) aged 65. Stephen is a chartered accountant and worked for several years in corporate finance and private equity. He was co-founder of My Kinda Town which developed a number of ground breaking American restaurant and bar brands. The company listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994 and was taken over in 1996. In 1997 he joined with Priscilla and Antonio Carluccio to start the Carluccio’s caffé and food shop business. He is non-executive chairman of Gaucho Grill Holdings Limited and a non-executive director of Hansteen Holdings PLC.

Simon Kossoff (Managing Director) aged 49. Simon is an economics graduate of York University and a post graduate of Manchester Polytechnic. He worked for Pizza Express before joining My Kinda Town in 1986. Following management positions in London, Manchester and Glasgow, he was appointed UK Operations Director in 1993 and subsequently UK Managing Director in 1995. During 1998 and 1999, whilst the Carluccio’s concept was being developed, he acted as a consultant to several major hotel and restaurant businesses.

Frank Bandura (Finance Director and Company Secretary) aged 43. Frank is a chartered accountant having qualified with KPMG, London. He joined PepsiCo International in 1992 as Finance Manager for Pizza Hut based in Warsaw, Poland. After returning to London in 1994 he spent the next 4 years working in various financial planning and analysis roles for PepsiCo. Following a brief stint working for Barilla(UK) Limited, Frank joined Carluccio’s as Finance Director in September 1999.

Sarah Murray (Operations Director) aged 35. Sarah is a law graduate from Aberdeen University with a post graduate diploma in management studies. Following 3 years with Pizza Hut, Sarah joined My Kinda Town's graduate training programme and held management positions in a number of themed restaurants in London between 1996 and 1998. Sarah joined Carluccio’s in 1999 to open the first caffé in Market Place.

David Bernstein (Non-Executive) aged 66. David has extensive experience in the retail and leisure industries and is currently chairman of Blacks Leisure Group Plc, The Sports & Leisure Group Limited and Frank Thomas (Group) Limited and a non-executive director of Ted Baker Plc and Wembley National Stadium Limited. He was previously Joint Managing Director of Pentland Group Plc, Chairman of Manchester City Plc and non-executive chairman of French Connection Group.

Scott Svenson (Non-Executive) aged 43. Scott was co-founder and CEO of Seattle Coffee Company, the pioneer in the UK gourmet coffee market, which he grew to over 75 retail locations before selling the business to Starbucks. Following the sale, Scott became President of Starbucks UK and subsequently President of Starbucks Europe. Scott, who also has a background in corporate finance and private equity now resides in Seattle and runs The Sienna Group, a private investment company.

Peter Webber (Non Executive) aged 70. Peter was for many years a director of Grand Metropolitan following which he created and developed the Harvester and Dome chains for The Imperial Group where he was a Managing Director. From 1986 to 1997 he was Managing Director of My Kinda Town during which time it grew from 5 to 57 restaurants and bars. In 1997 he joined with Priscilla and Antonio Carluccio to start the Carluccio’s caffé and food shop business. He now acts as a consultant to many international hotel and leisure organisation and is a director of several companies.