Board of directors
Charles Gurassa
Non Executive Chairman
Charles Gurassa is non executive chairman of MACH, Genesis Housing Group, deputy chairman of easyJet and a trustee of the National Trust. Previous roles include chairman of Virgin Mobile plc, LOVEFiLM, Phones4U, Alamo/National Rent a Car and 7Days Ltd. His executive career included roles as chief executive of Thomson Travel Group plc, executive chairman TUI Northern Europe and a director TUI AG and as Director, Passenger & Cargo business at British Airways. In addition, he has been a non-executive director at Whitbread plc and Merlin Entertainments.
James Parsons
Chief Operating Officer
James began his career as a graduate trainee with Bass Taverns - now trading as Mitchells & Butlers PLC - and followed this with five years as an area sales manager for the business. In 1988 he joined BrightReasons Restaurants Ltd as an area manager, firstly for Pizzaland and later for Bella Italia. In 1998 he joined Pizza Express plc as regional director for London and in 2000 took up the position of managing director. James left Pizza Express in 2002 and joined Tragus shortly afterwards.
Giles Thorley
Non Executive Director
Giles was Non Executive Chairman from October 2006 until July 2011. He was previously the Chief Executive of Punch Taverns Plc. After qualifying as a Barrister, his early career was at Nomura International plc. He successfully led the IPO of Punch in May 2002 and saw the business through subsequent acquisitions including Pubmaster in 2003 and Spirit Group in 2006. Giles left Punch in September 2010. Giles is also a Nonexecutive Director of Tui Travel plc, Matthew Clark Wholesale Limited and a trustee of the Rona Trust.
Graham Turner
Chief Executive Officer
Graham became CEO in January 2005. He was previously the Managing Director of the Unique Pub Company with some 4,000 leased pubs in the UK. Graham was part of the initial management team that grew the business through acquisitions and operational improvements. The Unique Pub Company is now owned by Enterprise Inns, one of the UK’s largest pub landlords. Graham is the Non-executive Chairman of the National Restaurants Group, a part of the British Hospitality Association, and is also the Non-executive Chairman of the Liberation Group Limited, a pub and drinks distribution business based in the Channel Islands.
Joseph Baratta
Non Executive Director
Joseph is a Senior Managing Director in the Private Equity Group of Blackstone and is based in London. Since joining Blackstone in 1998, Joseph has been involved in the execution of Blackstone’s investments in LiveWire, Republic Technologies International, Universal Orlando, Nycomed Pharmaceuticals, Houghton Mifflin and Spirit Group and is responsible for Blackstone’s investments in Seaworld Parks and Entertainment, Merlin Entertainments Group, Center Parcs and Southern Cross. In 2001, Joseph moved to London to help establish Blackstone’s corporate private equity business in Europe. Before joining Blackstone, Joseph was with Tinicum Incorporated, and McCown De Leeuw & Company. He also worked at Morgan Stanley in its Mergers & Acquisitions Department. Joseph graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University where he currently serves on the Advisory Board of the McDonough School of Business. He serves as a Director of Seaworld Parks and Entertainment, Merlin Entertainments Group and Center Parcs.
Raphael de Botton
Non Executive Director
Raphael is an Associate in the Corporate Private Equity Group of Blackstone, based in London. Before joining Blackstone in 2006, Raphael was with Lazard in the Mergers and Acquisition division in New York. Raphael graduated from ESSEC Business School with a Master’s degree in finance, and from the French National Institute of Telecommunications with a Masters of Science.
Mohan Mansigani
Chief Financial Officer
Mohan has previously been Finance Director of Costa Coffee and TGI Friday’s and was part of teams that grew these businesses substantially, implementing strong systems and management controls. Prior to this he held senior roles in Pizza Hut (UK) Ltd and Grand Met Foods. Mohan is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales who qualified with Deloitte Touche London, Mohan joined Tragus as part of the buy-in from Whitbread in 2002.
Alan Roux
Non Executive Director
Alan is an Executive Director in Blackstone’s Private Equity group and is based in London. Alan is responsible for monitoring and advising on the operational performance and strategy of Blackstone’s portfolio companies in Europe. Prior to joining Blackstone in 2007, Alan was the Director of Operations Development at Tesco Stores, where he led the operational improvement programme for the UK’s largest retailer. Before that, he was a Principal for the Boston Consulting Group in New York and London. He started his career with Procter & Gamble in Germany. Alan received an MBA with Honours from Columbia Business School and has a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering from the University of Cape Town. He speaks English and German. He serves on the board of Cineworld, Kloeckner Pentaplast and United Biscuits.