The ONE Group Hospitality, Inc. announced that Board of Directors has appointed Board member Emanuel “Manny” Hilario to the position of Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Jonathan Segal will become Executive Chairman and will be focused on global licensing and business development opportunities.
Michael Serruya, the company’s current Chairman of the Board of Directors, says, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome Manny as our new President and Chief Executive Officer. Manny has significant restaurant operations experience, including deep knowledge of licensing and franchising, complemented by his years working at fine dining concepts. After working with him the past several months on the Board, we determined his vast experience made him ideally suited to lead our Company as we pursue our next phase of growth.”
“I’m looking forward to working with The ONE Group’s world class management team and the Board of Directors to continue improving operating performance, enhancing margins and driving global brand growth. Having worked with the existing management in making changes that have already resulted in significant operating improvements as a Board member, I believe that there’s still substantial runway for further progress and profit growth,” says Manny Hilario.
Jonathan Segal, the company’s current Chief Executive Officer, will transition to the role of Executive Chairman of the company, and will be focused on continuing and fine tuning the established asset light growth strategy to expand through licensing and management deals, as well as focusing on business development and expanding the brand globally. In conjunction with Mr. Segal’s appointment, Michael Serruya will step down as Chairman of the company’s Board, but will remain a director.
“We are delighted that the shift in business strategy to licensing and management deals coupled with savings made in corporate G & A and savings at the restaurant level announced at the start of the year, have already proven to be very successful. As we continue our shift to an asset light business model, we believed it was an opportune time to transition to a CEO who could focus on strategy, operations and further improvements to financial performance. I think Manny will be an excellent addition to the team and I look forward to working with him as I renew my focus on business development and global licensing opportunities,” says Jonathan Segal, the company’s current Chief Executive Officer.
