Ian Saunders
President & COO - International

Ian Saunders brings more than 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry to his role as president and chief operating officer for T.G.I, Friday’s International. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the international business, including business operations and financial performance of more than 330 restaurants in 60 countries. Ian also serves on the T.G.I. Friday’s Executive Team leading the organization’s strategic efforts.

Prior to joining Friday’s, Ian was with Papa John’s International, Inc. where he most recently served as Regional Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Prior to Papa John’s, he spent six years in General Management roles within the UK-based Geest Ltd., a leading manufacturer and distributor of produce and fresh prepared foods to the food service and retail sector, and fifteen years in various leadership roles at Yum! Brands, Inc. Earlier in his career, he worked in the casual dining sector with London-based Grand Metropolitan PLC and Whitbread PLC.

Ian received his Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Catering Management from the University of Surrey and his Master of Business Administration from United Kingdom’s Cranfield University.

Marty Ritson
Regional Vice President
Asia Pacific & Americas

Marty has spent over 20 years delivering the Friday’s Brand. Marty joined the International team in 2003 as Director of Operations for Europe. Under his leadership, the European market had tremendous success including world sales records, highest sales and highest guest count awards. In 2009, Marty was promoted to Sr. Director of Operations and was leader of the International Operations team.

In 2010, Marty took on the role of Regional Vice President for the Americas and Asia. In this position, he offers strategic support to the Americas and Asia team to drive revenue and support growth of the Friday’s Brand throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, Asia, Australia and the Pacific Rim.

Marty is Carlson Honors award recipient for Sales Achievement and was International Director of Operations of the Year.

Stefan Eriksson
Regional Vice President
Europe, Middle East, Africa & India

Stefan leads the cross functional EMEA Regional Team by providing strategic direction and support to our franchise owners and operators to drive revenue and growth in Europe, Middle East, North Africa and India. He oversees the day-to-day execution within the region and also serves on the International Leadership Team.

Before coming to Friday’s, Stefan was General Manager of the Scandinavia and Netherlands region at Burger King International. He was responsible for 185 restaurants, operated by 38 franchisees in 4 countries. Prior to this role, Stefan served as Country General Manager, Director of Operations and Marketing Director within the BK organization.

Stefan has a BS in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Gothenburg’s School of Business, Economics and Law in Sweden.

Lucy Dominguez
Vice President, International Human Resources

Lucy has dedicated over 10 years to the T.G.I. Friday’s Brand. During her tenure, she has been a strong advocate for talent development, HR excellence and maximizing People Capabilities for growth, employee engagement and financial results. In her current role, Lucy leads the International Human Resources team and is a member of the International Leadership Team. Prior to joining International, Lucy served as Senior Director of Human Resources for T.G.I. Friday’s domestic Southeastern Division, the West Division and as Executive Director for Pick Up Stix. Before joining Carlson Restaurants, Dominguez was director of Human Resources for LSG Sky Chefs Inc.

Lucy has her completed her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and will soon receive her Masters of Business Administration/International Business from Dallas Baptist University. She has also has maintained certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources since May of 2000. She serves on the China Executive Board to increase collaboration and networking for our T.G.I. Friday’s businesses in Asia Pacific. She has also served as a board member on several community groups in the Dallas/Fort Worth region; she was a recipient of the 1999 Tribute to Women in Business Award from the Fort Worth YMCA.

Jean Baudrand
Vice President—International Business Development

Jean joined Friday’s in June 2009. He leads all Development and Franchise Sales activities in international markets. His experience includes an expert consultancy to international restaurants chains and he has held leadership positions at Quizno’s International, Yum! Brands (VP Business Development for Latin America, Canada, Europe, MENA) and Burger King International (Development Director).

Jean holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Real Estate Finance from Louisiana State University as well as a Bachelor of Arts from the European Business School in Paris, France. Jean is an active sponsor of medical research on the GSS, a prion disease, which has affected his family. Jean is a native of France and speaks French.

Ben Clayton
Senior Director of Brand Protection

Ben is Senior Director of Brand Protection where he provides strategic leadership to the International Franchise and Equity owned businesses to ensure the global integrity of the Friday’s brand in the areas of Food Safety, Food Quality and Restaurant Operating Standards to assure the safety of both our guests and employees and the consistent execution of the Friday’s restaurant experience is delivered. As a result, we achieve high food quality & consistency of brand standards. He leads a team of Brand Protection experts around the globe and is a member of the International Leadership Team.

Ben brings to us over 18 years experience providing technical/process improvements in blue chip fast moving consumer goods companies. Prior to T.G.I. Friday’s, he worked with Geest Plc in England, Britain’s leading chilled foods producer, serving in Project and Quality management roles. Earlier in his career, he served in operational roles at Hazelwood Foods, Kerry Foods, and United Biscuits. Ben holds a Bachelor’s degree in Food Science from the University of Nottingham.

Chris Phylactou
Sr. Director of Strategic
Sourcing—International

As leader of International Strategic Sourcing, Chris provides strategic leadership for sourcing goods and services to International T.G.I. Friday’s franchisees and equity markets in order to reduce costs, ensure continuous supply and achieve our quality and consistency goals. Chris also serves on the International Leadership Team.

Prior to joining Friday’s Chris served as Senior Director of International Supply Chain for Papa John’s Pizza. He brings over 10 years of successful procurement & supply chain management experience in the food industry. Chris holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Lutton.

Larry Doyle
Director of Culinary & Menu
Development

For over a decade, Larry has led culinary development for the Friday’s brand by providing strategic menu and product development that grow guest counts and sales. He leverages his creative expertise to lead and develop support materials that will improve local capabilities and operational excellence. In his current role, Larry leads the International Marketing team, in addition to his culinary role of driving menu strategy, food development and product promotional programs.

Prior to joining the International team in 2006, Larry was a key development chef for T.G.I. Friday’s USA where he developed many successful menu items including the Atkins Menu. His previous restaurant background has been with full service fine dining restaurants in both management and culinary roles.

Larry is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.

Murray Willows
Vice President of International Marketing

Murray leads the marketing function within the International Leadership Team to ensure we build the equity of the Friday’s brand while driving sales, profits and supporting new restaurant growth for our business and franchise partners around the world.

Murray brings a wealth of marketing and food service expertise. Prior to joining the Friday’s International Team, Murray spent 12 years with Yum Restaurants International in several leadership roles including Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Pizza Hut UK where he increased delivery business sales by optimizing marketing efforts and led the development of a new occasion-focused, experienced-based advertising campaign as well as the development of a menu strategy which resulted in significant improvement in consumer perceptions of the brand. In addition, he served as Vice President for Pizza Hut International and Marketing and Technical Director and Chief Concept Officer for KFC in South Africa. Earlier in his career, he led marketing efforts at South African packaged goods and financial services entities including an extensive time with several of the Unilever businesses.

Murray lives in his native UK with his wife Heather. He received a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Agriculture majoring in Microbiology from the University of Natal in South Africa.