Greene King CEO handover: first woman to lead in 227 years
Nick Mackenzie leaves the role after nearly eight years. Clair Preston-Beer, a 16-year Whitbread veteran, takes over in March 2027 as the pub group's first female chief executive.
Greene King CEO Nick Mackenzie is stepping down after nearly eight years, handing the role to Clair Preston-Beer, who becomes the pub group's first female chief executive in its 227-year history.
Mackenzie will leave the post in February 2027 and stay on the board to support the handover. Preston-Beer becomes chief executive in March 2027, moving up from her current post as chief digital and commercial officer.
A career built inside Whitbread and Greene King
It has been the privilege of my career to lead Greene King for nearly eight years.
Preston-Beer joined Greene King in 2020 as managing director of its pubs business, was promoted to chief operating officer in 2024, and moved into her current role earlier this year. Before that, she spent more than 16 years at Whitbread, including a spell as managing director of Costa Coffee for the Middle East and Asia. She also sits on the board of the British Beer and Pub Association.
"It has been the privilege of my career to lead Greene King for nearly eight years," Mackenzie said. Preston-Beer has said her priorities are growing market share in a difficult trading environment and keeping data and artificial intelligence central to how the business runs. Gerald Ma, an executive committee member at parent company CK Asset Holdings, thanked Mackenzie and credited Preston-Beer with shaping much of the group's recent strategy and operations.
Eight years that remade a 227-year-old brewer
Mackenzie's tenure included CK Asset Holdings' £2.7 billion acquisition of Greene King in 2019, a push into digital ordering and loyalty, and the rollout of the Hickory's barbecue brand, which won Best Pub Operations Team at the 2026 Publican Awards. The handover follows the launch of Greene King's strategy through to 2030, the same year the pub group turns 230.
Preston-Beer's appointment comes in the same week as John Vincent's Person of the Year win at the R200 Awards, another marker of a UK hospitality leadership class in flux. Her first results as chief executive are not expected before the second half of 2027.
