New chief executive at Host Contract Management

Toner has spent most of his 30-year career with Sodexo UK (formerly Gardner Merchant) including five years as managing director. In 1999 he left Sodexo to become chief executive of Aramark UK which he built into the UK's third-largest contract caterer with over 1,000 contracts and an annual turnover of £400m. The newly appointed chief executive will work closely with sales director Andrew Scott and operations director Deborah Homshaw to strengthen links between the company's head office and its restaurants. He will also play a role in client liaison and the growth of the company through new contracts. He is very happy about his new role: "I'm very excited by the opportunity to take over the running of Host. There is much to be done and many new business opportunities. "I have a great team in Deborah and Andrew and I strongly believe that Host can grow to become a major market player. Jerry has built a great cultural foundation and we have enjoyed working together but he now needs to focus on Caternet, so I will run and develop the Host business." Meanwhile Brand, who established Host in 2004, will now concentrate on Caternet, his integrated catering management software house. He commented: "Launching the Caternet concept is the culmination of several years' work on the part of myself and my development team. It has been a significant investment and bringing it to market now provides me with a new challenge, and one that I need to devote all my time to. "Caternet has been well received and we are already working with several large organisations and achieving big savings on their annual budgets. With Bill Toner as chief executive Host will be in the hands of an experienced, corporate operator with the skills and knowledge to take the business through its next phase of development."