Cake Box appoints new chairman

Cake Box has announced the appointment of Martin Blair, currently non-executive director, as its new chairman. The appointment of Blair follows a thorough recruitment process carried out by the board over the last few months during which a number of external candidates were interviewed. Blair will succeed Nilesh (Neil) Sachdev as non-executive chairman on 31 October 2023 on which date Sachdev will formally step down from the board. Blair has a deep knowledge of Cake Box and its strategy, having sat on the board as an independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee, since the company was admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in June 2018. Blair is also an experienced non-executive director of listed companies, with strong financial and digital expertise from his board positions at Kape Technologies plc and t42 IoT Tracking Solutions plc, and his role as CFO of Pilat Media plc. Following Blair's promotion, the board has initiated a process to recruit a new independent non-executive director to chair the Audit Committee and a further announcement will be made in this regard in due course. Until such time, Blair will continue to chair the Audit Committee. The board has also appointed Adam Batty as the senior independent director. Blair said: "I am honoured to be taking up the role of chair of Cake Box. As outlined at our recent Capital Markets event, there are many exciting growth opportunities ahead for the business and I look forward to working with the board and executive management team to help us to capitalise on these. With an experienced leadership team and ambitious strategy, I am confident that the group will continue to deliver growth for all stakeholders." Sukh Chamdal, chief executive officer, added: "On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Neil for his contribution to Cake Box. He has been instrumental in the delivery of Cake Box's significant growth since our IPO more than five years ago, with the store estate almost tripling during his tenure. Neil had a particular focus on improving diversity in our business, helping to significantly increase the number of female franchisees to over 40 today. We wish him all the best for the future. "Following a thorough process conducted in recent months, I am also delighted that Martin Blair is stepping up to chair the Cake Box board. He has a deep understanding of our business and was the standout candidate among a strong field to help guide our business through the next stage of our growth."