Punch Taverns has announced that Giles Thorley intends to step down as chief executive and leave the Board.
"After nine years at Punch I have decided to leave the business," he said. "Having grown Punch into Britain’s largest pub company, the past two years we have faced the worst recession for a generation and significant structural and political challenges in the industry.
"We have made good progress in reshaping our business and balance sheet, stabilised our operating performance and have taken the right actions to position Punch to achieve long-term sustainable success."
