The board reshuffle means current CEO, Paul Wells, is to focus his attentions on his position of chairman while Peter Wells, managing director of Charles Wells UK pubs, will become the commercial director of the group.

Phillimore said he has valued Paul Well’s “wise counsel and pragmatic approach” and will continue to draw on this in his role as chairman.

He added: “I’m excited about taking the chief executive role for our combined business operations and looking forward to working with the outstanding teams we have here.

“We have a well-developed strategy which includes driving our managed house operations in the UK and France, working with our partners to continue development of our excellent beer portfolio and providing a commitment to the highest quality service for our customers.”

Paul Wells explained: “I’ve had the pleasure of working with a tremendous group of people at Charles Wells and seen them work together to build the business we have today.

“I am delighted to be able to hand over the chief executive role to Justin Phillimore to drive the next chapter of development of Charles Wells.  As chairman I will remain closely involved but also focus on new initiatives for our family companies.”