The Premier League has confirmed Alison Brittain as its new chair.

Since 2015, Brittain has been the CEO of Whitbread PLC, reshaping the business and selling its Costa Coffee brand to Coca-Cola. She will be stepping down from her role at Whitbread in early 2023 and will then focus on serving as the Premier League chair, as well as her other non-executive roles.

Prior to her time at Whitbread, Brittain was a senior executive in the financial services sector, firstly with Barclays and latterly at Santander and Lloyds Banking Group, where she led the retail banking division.

Brittain is currently the senior independent director at Experian and was recently announced as chair designate of Dunelm. She is a former chair of the Financial Conduct Authority’s practitioner panel.

Awarded a CBE in 2019, Brittain is also deputy chair and trustee of the Prince’s Trust Council.

A spokesperson for the Premier League board’s nominations committee said: “Alison is a first-class business leader with exceptional regulatory and governmental experience as well as outstanding personal qualities of integrity, energy and commitment to her work. We believe that she has all the skills needed to be the Premier League Chair.”