(Reuters) - Britain's Restaurant Group (N:RTN), operator of Frankie & Benny's and other chains, and pubs group Greene King (L:GNK) appointed new chief financial officers on Friday.
Greene King CFO Kirk Davis, who oversaw the company's acquisition of Spirit Pub Company, moves across to fill Restaurant Group's empty CFO position.
Greene King announced that Davis would be replaced by Richard Smothers from baby goods retailer Mothercare Plc (L:MTC).
Both will take up their positions in February.
Shares in Greene King and Restaurant Group were both down about 1.7 percent following the news.
Restaurant Group, which operates almost 500 restaurants and pub restaurants throughout the UK including brands such as Coast to Coast and Joe's Kitchen, has been without a CFO since the sudden departure of Barry Nightingale in April after less than a year in the job.
Chief Executive Andy McCue took the helm of Restaurant Group last September from betting firm Paddy Power (I:PPB) tasked with turning around falling profit and like-for-like sales.
Greene King's like-for-like sales for the 40 weeks to Feb. 5 showed a 1.1 percent increase helped by record Christmas Day sales.
Mothercare, which announced in May that Smothers would leave, did not name a successor on Friday.
Mothercare has been trying to revive its British business which has come under pressure from tough competition from rivals such as AB Foods' (L:ABF) unit Primark and online retailers including Amazon (O:AMZN).