Tortilla shakes up board as CEO Andy Naylor steps down

Fast-casual Mexican chain Tortilla has reshuffled its board as chief executive Andy Naylor departs after eight years with the company.

Naylor began as chief financial officer, before expanding his role with added business development responsibilities and becoming UK managing director and ultimately CEO in February 2024.

Tortilla’s founder Brandon Stephens has swapped from a non-executive director role into a group CEO position to lead the next phase of the brand’s development, focusing on long-term strategy, concept and brand innovation, food development, technology roadmap, property selection, business development and investor relations.

Stephens founded Tortilla in 2007 and served as CEO until 2014.

Meanwhile, Mac Plumpton has moved from being Leon’s managing director to join the Mexican chain as UK CEO. He previously co-founded Tapas Revolution and has operational experience from senior roles at Rosa’s Thai, Belgo, Strada and Planet Hollywood.

Mexican chef Edson Diaz-Fuentes has also joined the senior leadership team as food ambassador, working alongside the Tortilla food team to enhance the core offering and extend the menu. His career has included roles at fast-casual Mexican chain Benito’s Hat and head of menu innovation at Wahaca, plus he founded Mexican restaurant chain Santo Remedio.

Tortilla has also overhauled its non-executive director line-up, recruiting Marta Pogroszewska, former managing director of Bread Holdings (parent company of Gail’s), while Keith Down steps down along with Francesca Tiritiello, former CFO of Yum! Europe, who will assume a more active role as board advisor, leading UK and European franchise development through her franchise advisory firm Kikkirossi.

Tortilla said these changes position the company to execute its vision of becoming the leading pan-European fast-casual Mexican brand.

Under the refreshed leadership team, the chain will focus on key strategic initiatives, including enhancing its food offering and addressing the short tail of underperforming UK stores to eliminate loss-making stores and drive UK earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation toward 20%.

The firm also intends to deploy AI-enabled tools and a data-driven approach to streamline operations, strengthen unit economics and enable faster, data-driven decision-making.

Naylor said he was “proud of what we have achieved together” during his eight-year tenure, most recently “delivering a record year of profitability in the UK and making the first steps of our journey of European expansion”. He added: “I believe now is the right time for new leadership to take the business forward. I leave Tortilla in capable hands and wish Brandon, Mac and the entire team every success.”

Stephens said: “We have built something meaningful, but there is significant work ahead. The experienced leadership team we have assembled are fully aligned on putting the customer first, investing in our product, and building a sustainable, pan-European business.”

Plumpton added: “Fast-casual success depends on getting the balance right between product quality, value for money and operational efficiency, and I look forward to supporting our teams to achieve those critical objectives. I’m excited to work alongside Brandon and the team to realise Tortilla’s potential.”

Tortilla trades from around 80 company-owned locations in the UK and acquired French Mexican chain Fresh Burritos for £3.3m in 2024.

The company ended 2025 with strong like-for-like sales performance in the UK and significant sales uplifts from its converted French stores.