Gondola Holdings has appointed Mark Angela, the former managing director of Greene King's managed pub division, as chief executive of its Pizza Express brand.
Angela, who left Greene King in April after the company decided to split its managed division in two, will oversee the development of the 330-strong chain.
Harvey Smyth, chief executive of Gondola, said: "It was always our intention to recruit someone to head the Pizza Express division, as we want clear leadership at each of our core growth drivers."
Smyth said the appointment would mean that he himself could focus on the overall development and growth of parent company Gondola.
He said that while bolt-on acquisitions were always an option for the company, the main focus was the organic growth of ASK, Pizza Express and Zizzi, which currently operate across approximately 550 sites.
Smyth said Gondola had identified a further 300 locations for its key growth drivers.
The company is majority owned by Cinven, the private equity group, which took it private in December 2005, in a deal worth around £900m.
