The parent company of Pizza Hut UK has appointed Gino Casciani, previously Taco Bell’s MD, as its new CEO for Europe.
He is set to begin on 9 September, leading expansion efforts for more than 240 Pizza Hut restaurants operated by Directional Pizza in the UK, Sweden, and Denmark.
Casciani has held senior positions at Pret A Manger, KFC, Taco Bell, and Odeon Cinemas Group, and most recently served as global COO of Sushi Daily, overseeing more than 1,500 sushi concessions across Europe, Mexico, and the Middle East.
Directional Capital, the investment firm behind Directional Pizza, bought Pizza Hut’s UK dine-in restaurants in a £10m pre-pack administration deal earlier this year.
As part of the deal, 139 restaurants were acquired, helping to preserve an estimated 3,000 jobs.
The former Pizza Hut UK operator, Heart with Smart Group, was reportedly searching for buyers from November in response to tax rises outlined in the autumn budget.
The Pizza Hut brand is licensed from Yum! Brands, the US-based company that also owns KFC and Taco Bell.