By Neil Maidment
LONDON (Reuters) - Whitbread (L:WTB), the owner of Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee, on Friday named Lloyds Banking Group (L:LLOY) executive Alison Brittain as its new boss, succeeding Andy Harrison who last month announced his surprise exit.
Brittain, 50, is group director of Lloyds' retail division, where she has been credited with revitalising the business. She will be Whitbread's first female boss and the sixth woman currently in charge of a FTSE 100 listed firm.
Her appointment, however, will raise questions about the future of Costa Coffee Managing Director and former group finance chief Chris Rogers, as he was a strong contender to replace Harrison.
"I'm a bit surprised," Numis analyst Wyn Ellis said. "She doesn't seem to have had any sort of quoted company CEO experience before, it is a little bit left field."
"Some people might have thought Chris Rogers might have got the job. It's not totally unfeasible that Costa might be separately spun off and he might then run that business. I think that's a few years away but it's a possibility."
Whitbread has said it remains focused on expanding Costa Coffee, which has 1,755 stores in the United Kingdom and 1,100 abroad, but some analysts expect a demerger and have valued the business at about 3 billion pounds.
Shares in Whitbread, up 26 percent over the past 12 months, were down 0.8 percent at 5,220 pence at 0812 GMT (9:12 a.m.).
Harrison, who joined Whitbread as CEO from easyJet in 2010, announced last month he had decided to retire from full-time executive life at the end of February, 2016.
During his tenure, Whitbread's stock market value has grown from 2.5 billion pounds to almost 10 billion, as the company expands to tap demand for affordable hotels from cost-conscious customers and a rising trend for takeaway coffee.
Whitbread, which employs 45,000 people in the United Kingdom, recently extended openings and sales targets for Premier Inn and Costa.
Brittain, who joins on Jan. 4, 2016, has a strong focus for customer service and experience in digital, marketing and managing significant property portfolios, Whitbread Chairman Richard Baker said.
She will receive a base salary of 775,000 pounds plus benefits and will be eligible for performance related share rewards. Whitbread said she would buy 500,000 pounds worth of Whitbread shares.
Brittain has previously held senior roles at Santander (MADRID:SAN) UK and Barclays (L:BARC) and is a non-executive director of Marks & Spencer (L:MKS).
