Dyson to step down at the end of the year

Dyson, 49, was brought in to run Punch Taverns in September 2010 and moved to demerge the leased and managed division, with Dyson himself taking the helm at the managed side.

The former Marks & Spencers executive is thought to want to pursue a fresh challenge. Chief executive positions at Betfair and Thomas Cook are currently available in the leisure sector. Spirit deputy chief executive Mike Tye is expected to succeed Dyson.

A former executive at Whitbread he joined the pub company in 2008 under Giles Thorley as managing director of the managed division. There have been question marks over how long Dyson would stay at the helm post-demerger, with speculation that there was a succession pact agreed with Tye.
Comment by group editor The PMA Team ​

Both Mike Tye and former colleague and boss of Punch leased Roger Whiteside applied for the chief executive position that was won by Ian Dyson.

The company outsider was appointed with a particular brief to restructure the company. His chosen strategy allowed Whiteside to emerge as chief executive of a demerged Punch Taverns.

Tye has been the architect of the renewed fortunes of the managed division, which had underperformed since it was acquired from its private equity owner in 2006.

He was been incentivised by a personal performance-related package, which vested when Spirit demerged last month. It's very likely that Tye will have been promised succession to the top job at Spirit as a way of keeping him with the business.

Dyson's key task is now complete, a fundamental re-alignment of Punch's managed and leased pubs in a way that allows shareholders to ring-fence their stake in the part of the company with the stronger prospects, managed, while retaining a stake in the weaker part, leased, as option value.