Westlife Foodworld Ltd., owner and operator of McDonald’s restaurants in West and South India, has announced the elevation of Saurabh Kalra as the Managing Director (MD) of its subsidiary, via an exchange filing.
Prior to this, Saurabh was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the organization. In this new role, Saurabh will focus on the overall business strategy and growth opportunities, driving the company’s long-term success while continuing to remain deeply involved in dayto-day operations.
Saurabh brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge gathered over his twenty-year-plus career with Westlife.
Having started his career as a Management Trainee in 2002, Saurabh became one of the youngest Restaurant Managers.
Over the years, he straddled roles across operations, training, real estate, strategy, and development functions, gradually and successfully transitioning from a restaurant-facing role to a CXO role.
Saurabh was instrumental in launching and growing McCafe and the Experience of The Future (EOTF) restaurants in India.
He was also an integral part of the team that established the McDonald's brand in South India.
Saurabh has led several initiatives that have delivered significantly higher profitability and improved operational efficiencies.
His deep commitment to excellence has helped Westlife to continue to be a leader in the QSR space even in a time of immense adversity brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Saurabh was also an active participant in crafting the 2022 Vision and has been playing a key role in operationalizing Vision 2027, along with Akshay Jatia, Executive Director, Westlife Foodworld.
Amit Jatia, Vice Chairman, Westlife Foodworld said, "We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Saurabh on his well-deserved promotion. It gives me great pride to see that, in keeping with our people philosophy, we have been able to develop careers and appoint someone internally for this critical role."
"Over the years, Saurabh has evolved as an incredible leader and a mentor within the organization. He is a motivated and passionate individual who always seeks to innovate and take on new challenges and we are confident that he will continue to lead Westlife to newer highs with his remarkable vision and strategy."
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