Hero Brands appoints new recruitment head to lead growth

Jon Cullen was promoted to the role from his current position as German Doner Kebab's group franchise recruitment and development director

Hero Brands has appointed Jon Cullen (pictured) as chief development and recruitment officer to spearhead the growth of its exciting brand portfolio. Jon is promoted to the role from his current position at German Doner Kebab where he is currently group franchise recruitment and development director.

His promotion follows the appointment of both Christian Bradford and Steve Turner as international development directors for Hero Brands F&B division.

Hero Brands is focused on building the food brands of the future and brings a leadership team assembled from the world’s leading global food and beverage brands.

Its portfolio includes German Doner Kebab which has revolutionised the kebab in the UK and is now forging ahead with expansion plans in the UK and throughout the globe, with 700 franchises already signed up to its global growth strategy. Choppaluna is a fast, fresh, food-to-go and dine-in brand that has opened locations in London and Berlin in the past 12 months. Hero Brands has also recently brought Island Poké into its fast-casual portfolio, the UK’s leading poké operator.

“I am excited to be moving into this role to drive the growth of our brand portfolio,” said Jon Cullen.  “We have a family of game-changing brands that are responding to the needs of the modern consumer and I’m looking forward to working with our team to drive global growth.”

Imran Sayeed, Group CEO said: “Jon has been a key figure in establishing German Doner Kebab as the fast-casual brand of the future. His experience has been invaluable in developing our partnership strategy and we are excited for him to move into this new role that will lead the growth of our game-changing brand portfolio.”

Jon Cullen has spent much of the last 15 years working with international brands coming into the UK market and working with brands to find master franchisees and area development franchisees and distribution partners for Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the US.