Second boss to leave Big Mac role was pal of axed supremo
The top boss who left his job at McDonald’s in the wake of Briton Steve easterbrook was a close friend of the sacked chief executive, it emerged yesterday.
The shock departure of human resources chief David Fairhurst, 51, was announced only hours after Mr easterbrook was axed from his £12million-a-year role.
Mr easterbrook, from Watford, was fired by the company for showing ‘poor judgement’ after entering into a ‘consensual relationship with an employee’.
McDonald’s yesterday refused to provide details about why Mr Fairhurst – who grew up in Wigan harbouring ambitions to become a priest – had left with immediate effect, other than to say it was ‘unrelated’ to Mr easterbrook’s departure.
The twice-married HR supremo enjoyed a close working relationship with his boss Mr easterbrook, with the pair rising through the company’s ranks together over the last decade.
They were at the fast food chain’s British and european divisions before both moving to the US for senior posi- tions in 2015.
When Mr easterbrook was appointed CeO, he made Mr Fairhurst ‘chief people officer’ as the pair began a hugely successful overhaul of the chain’s management structure.
Yesterday it also emerged that Mr easterbrook had stood down from his £181,000-a-year role on the board of the US supermarket giant and Asda owner Walmart.
He had sat on the compensation and management development, strategic planning and finance committees since last year.
The divorced father-of-three is set to walk away with a package of at least £21million.
Mr Fairhurst, whose pay package is not included in McDonald’s public filings, yesterday said he was ‘sad to be leaving’ the company where he has worked for 14 years. Writing online, he said: ‘The time has come for me to move on to my next career challenge. It is my privilege to have been able to lead this amazing team and I wish all of them every success.’ After stints at Tesco and drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, the father of four joined McDonald’s in 2005 – drawing criticism from his mother, Susan, over the company’s often negative public image.
He grew up in a family of retailers in Lancashire, where he described ‘filling shelves when I was just out of nappies’. He initially planned to become a priest after leaving Lancashire University with a social sciences degree and Manchester Metropolitan with a masters in human resources. Mr Fairhurst, who has two children with his first wife Alison, is now based in Chicago where he lives with his second wife Canan and their two children close to McDonald’s global HQ. He retains a £1million five-bedroom house in Hertfordshire.
His departure was announced in an internal memo signed by new CEO Chris Kempczinksi on Monday.
Neither Mr Fairhurst or Mr easterbrook were available for comment yesterday.
‘Package of £12million’