Greene King names Clair Preston-Beer as first female CEO
Nick Mackenzie steps down after nearly eight years at the pub group. His successor, chief digital and commercial officer Clair Preston-Beer, takes over in March 2027.
Greene King CEO Nick Mackenzie will step down at the end of February 2027, and the pub group has named Clair Preston-Beer, its chief digital and commercial officer, as his successor.
Preston-Beer takes over in March 2027. She becomes the first female chief executive in Greene King's 227-year history. Mackenzie stays on the board to support the handover, the company said on 2 November 2026.
Mackenzie joined Greene King in May 2019 from Merlin Entertainments, where he had spent 17 years. He took charge just before CK Asset Holdings bought the company in a deal worth £2.7bn. He oversaw the pub group's move to private ownership, its digital investment and the rollout of US-style sports bar chain Hickory's, which won Best Pub Operations Team at the 2026 Publican Awards.
It has been the privilege of my career to lead Greene King for nearly eight years.
Who is Clair Preston-Beer
Preston-Beer spent more than 16 years at Whitbread, including a spell as managing director of Costa Coffee's Middle East and Asia division. She 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 as chief digital and commercial officer earlier this year.
She also sits on the board of the British Beer and Pub Association and has held non-executive director roles at other FTSE 350 companies.
“It has been the privilege of my career to lead Greene King for nearly eight years,” Mackenzie said. He added that he has worked closely with Preston-Beer for six years and called her an exceptionally qualified successor.
Preston-Beer said the company has “an ambitious strategy in place that is focused on growing share in a challenging environment.” Gerald Ma, an executive committee member at CK Asset Holdings, thanked Mackenzie for his leadership and credited Preston-Beer with shaping the group's strategy and operations.
A group built on scale
Greene King, founded in 1799, runs around 2,500 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland and employs roughly 38,000 people. It is one of Britain's largest pub operators at a time when the sector is losing close to 19 venues a week, even as UK hospitality sales have picked up pace since September.
Preston-Beer will inherit a 2030 strategy that Mackenzie set in motion, including plans for the pub estate and a new brewery in Bury St Edmunds. The transition runs for four months before she formally takes the reins.
