Appointment of New CEO

Compass Group PLC
26 April 2006


       Compass Group PLC: Appointment of New CEO for UK & Ireland Division

26 April 2006

Compass Group PLC is pleased to announce today the appointment of Ian El-Mokadem
as CEO of its UK & Ireland Division. He was previously Managing Director of
Onetel, the former telecommunications subsidiary of Centrica plc and major
competitor to BT and prior to that Director of Marketing and Strategy for
British Gas Trading. He will join Compass on 8th May 2006 and Trevor Briggs will
return to his original role as Executive Director Specialist Markets after a
brief handover period.

Commenting on the appointment, Sir Roy Gardner, incoming Chairman and Senior
Independent Director, said:

'This is a key appointment for the Group and I am delighted that Ian has agreed
to join us as CEO of our UK & Ireland Division. Ian is one of the most able
young businessmen I know and has a wealth of experience in business strategy and
in consumer and retail markets. His talents will be invaluable in leading the
continuing turnaround and cultural change in the division that Trevor has
initiated.

I am grateful to Trevor for the terrific job he has done as interim CEO and
thank him for all his hard work. I look forward to working with Ian to restore
the division to sustainable and profitable growth.'

Ian El-Mokadem said today:

'I am delighted to be joining the market leader in the UK and am really looking
forward to working with a first class team.'

Enquiries:

Compass Group PLC

Shareholders /Analysts              Andrew Martin                   01932 573000

Media                               Paul Kelly                      01932 573000

Notes to Editors:

Ian is 38 years old, is married with two children and lives in London. He has a
BSc in Economics and Statistics from London University and an MBA from INSEAD in
France. He joined Centrica in 1997 as Head of Gas Competition and went on to be
Head of Market Operations at British Gas and subsequently Director of Marketing
and Strategy at British Gas Trading.

In 2000 he became Managing Director of Centrica's telecommunications division,
leading the acquisition of Onetel plc in 2001 and the sale of Onetel to Carphone
Warehouse in December 2005.

Prior to joining Centrica he was a Senior Manager in Andersen Consulting's (now
Accenture's) Strategy Practice, specialising in the utilities sector.

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