Mark Davies - Chief Executive Officer

Mark is the CEO of Hawthorn Leisure, having been Executive Chairman of the NewRiver Pub REIT Board from May 2018 to September 2019. Mark is also Chief Financial Officer of NewRiver REIT plc and through his role as CEO of Hawthorn Leisure, Mark has group responsibility for the Company’s community pub portfolio and its strategic and operational performance.

Mark is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years’ corporate and finance experience, including over 15 years in the UK real estate and leisure sector. He started his finance career with Grant Thornton before joining PKF (now BDO LLP) as a Partner and Head of Real Estate. Mark is a founder director of NewRiver and has been the Chief Financial Officer since 2009 and has overseen the growth of the business from a £25m IPO to a FTSE250 Company. Prior to 2009 Mark was CFO of Omega Land, a £2bn property JV owned by Morgan Stanley.

Mark has experience in many areas of property finance including capital markets, investor relations, debt restructuring, hedging, REITs, convertible loans and originating senior debt on investment and development property.

Edith Monfries - Chief Operating Officer

Edith is Chief Operating Officer of Hawthorn Leisure and Head of HR for NewRiver REIT plc.

Edith is a qualified Chartered Accountant having trained with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells. She has over 20 years’ experience in the retail property sector, combining Finance, Operational and HR roles, specialising in advising business in strategic and operational matters.

Edith became Head of HR at NewRiver in October 2018, having previously been an HR consultant to NewRiver, bringing her expertise and knowledge of talent development within the sector to the business. She was appointed COO of Hawthorn Leisure in May 2019, working alongside the Hawthorn leadership team.

Matt Ward – CFO

Matt is the numbers man, keeping our finances in check with a ‘spend a pound, spend it wisely’ ethos. He’s a guru at transforming businesses, having experience across lots of sectors – retail, motor and even funeral services - and with a love of good food, entertainment and a decent pint, Hawthorn Leisure’s definitely a place he can unleash his passions! A keen runner, he's chasing more than a good time, keeping himself fit so he has the energy and enthusiasm for both our teams and his family, who he’s with when we’re not benefitting from his open, honest and sage opinions!

Mark McGinty - MD of Operations

If you want the measure of Mark’s determination and commitment, pop down to his local gym at 6am most mornings (except post-party days)! Forever driven to improve retail standards in the pub sector, JD Wetherspoon gained from his experience for 17 years, before he joined Enterprise Inns. Now leading operations at Hawthorn Leisure, you’ll find him out and about looking for ways to make our pubs the best they can be. A Manchester United fan - there’s a chink in everyone’s armour!

Chris Beck – Commercial Director

A dream job for many, Chris is our class act buyer with over twenty years’ experience in drinks sales and purchasing, for big pub companies in the UK and Australia. He’s now responsible for making sure our Partners get the product they need. A keen cyclist, rugby player and expending more energy running after the kids, he also takes his role of ‘market research’ in UK pubs very seriously!

Jennie Tucker - Head of Marketing

Jenn is a marketing whizz, driven and passionate about enhancing the customer experience. It was love at first sight with pubs and restaurants; she’s been working in them since graduating. Jenn can usually be found ‘spec testing’ food and drink to ensure perfection and inspire new brands (well that’s what she tells us!) When she’s not out scouting for the latest trends, Jenn loves to travel - annual leave has to be spent with an adventure!

Andrew Parker - Operations Director

The Retailer who got driven to pubs! After a 14-year career in food retail, Andy decided it was time to go back to his roots. With a passion for pubs and developing great performing teams, the opportunity to lead the Northern half of the Hawthorn Leisure’s Operations team was never going to be passed up.

Ashley Lovett - Operations Director

Full of energy and our adrenaline junkie, Ash lives his life in the fast lane as a keen motorbike racer, gym goer and father to toddler Lucas (who certainly keeps him on his toes). Ash thrives from the fast-paced nature of the pub industry, bringing with him over 10 years of pub industry experience to lead the Southern half of the Hawthorn Leisure Operations.

Daryl Kelly – Head of Financial Control, Process & Systems

Always up for a challenge, it seems the twenty years in senior finance roles, working with most of the big pub companies wasn’t enough for this ultra-marathon runner (yes 31.5 miles!) It was the attraction of a young company with bags of growth and ambition that brought him to Hawthorn Leisure in 2016, and of course the fact that he loves a good pub. Daryl loves travelling with his family and making memories – just like his lifelong football club Leicester City F.C. did (once!)

James Shepherd - Head of Commercial Finance & Reporting

After working across several sectors, in large corporate companies, the ambitious growth plans and pace of change attracted our numbers man to Hawthorn Leisure. When James isn’t focussed on commercial finance and value-added reporting utilising BI and data analysis, you can find him jetting off to the USA or a new destination to explore!

David Lockhart - Non-Executive Chairman

David is the Non-Executive Chairman of Hawthorn Leisure and is also Executive Deputy Chairman of NewRiver REIT plc. David co-founded NewRiver in 2009 and served as its CEO until April 2018.

David is a qualified Solicitor and Chartered Accountant and has over 30 years’ operating experience in the UK real estate market. David is an experienced and successful entrepreneur, having founded several property businesses across the United Kingdom. In 1991, David founded Halladale, a business which he ran as CEO. Halladale floated on AIM in 2001 and was acquired by Stockland Corporation in 2007. David served as the Executive Chairman of Stockland Halladale PLC until 2009.

Gerry Carroll - Non-Executive Director

Gerry has over 30 years’ experience in the leisure and hospitality sector, having held senior roles with Enterprise Inns, Whitbread, Mitchells and Butler, Little Chef, Warner Bros and Vue.

Prior to setting up Hawthorn Leisure in 2014, Gerry was Managing Director of Enterprise Inns for over 5 years responsible for almost 3,400 pubs. In September 2019 stepped down as CEO of Hawthorn Leisure. The business continues to benefit from Gerry’s expertise and sector knowledge in his role as Non-Executive Director on the NewRiver Pub REIT Board.