End for an Era for Fuller's as Chairman Steps Down
Michael Turner has headed the company's board for 18 years
Michael Turner has been with the company since 1978. Picture: Fuller's
June 11, 2025
It has been announced that Michael Turner, the Chairman of Fuller’s is to step down after being with the company for nearly half a century.
74-years-old this month, he is a direct descendant of John Turner who founded Fuller, Smith & Turner back in 1845 alongside John Bird Fuller and Henry Smith.
Having worked for the company since 1978, he was first appointed to the board in 1985 and will formally retire at the Annual General Meeting next month.
Trained as a Chartered Accountant, he started in the wine division before being made Managing Director in 1992 and Chief Executive in 2002 then finally chairman in 2007.
The founding families retain a significant interest and involvement in the company with Peter Turner serving as Property Director and Fred Turner as Retail Director. Richard Fuller and Sir James Fuller, sit on the board as non-executive directors. Nearly 50% of the company’s shares and 75% of voting rights are still held by descendants of the founders.
Michael Turner’s term as Chairman has seen a period of profound change for the company, most notably the sale in 2019 of its brewing division and the Griffin Brewery to Asahi for £250million. Since then, it has transformed into a hospitality business focused on pubs and hotels.
Simon Emeny, the current Chief Executive will take over as Executive Chairman with Fred Turner becoming chief operating officer, which will broaden his responsibilities, bringing sales, marketing and operations across both managed and tenanted together. Mr Emeny will be the first ever chairman not to be a founding family member.
He said, “Since the day I joined Fuller’s in 1996, Michael has been inspirational and supportive. He retires with our best wishes and gratitude, and he leaves an incredible legacy. I will be taking on the role of executive chairman. It is a move I am relishing – and I see the move as evolution, not revolution. I’m looking forward to continuing to lead our excellent executive team and to taking Fuller’s on the next stage of its journey. Fred has successfully led the managed pubs and hotels business since June 2019, and I know the business will benefit as he takes on this wider commercial remit. “
The announcement came as Fuller’s reported its annual results which showed an increase in revenue of 4.8% to £376.3m in the year to March 2025. Like-for-like sales in the year in its managed pubs and hotels grew 5.2% compared with the prior year and adjusted profit before tax was up 32% to £27.0m.
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