Mollie’s (www.mollies.com), the fast-growing concept designed by Soho House – with locations in Oxfordshire, Bristol, and a 2023 launch of city centre-based Mollie’s Manchester – has appointed Dan Gover as Group Innovation & Development Chef. Gover intends to support in creative F&B direction for the brand.

Gover joins Mollie’s from popular dining brand Coppa Club, where he led on the development of core dishes and handled training programmes across the whole of the UK. He joins the Mollie’s brand at a pinnacle time as the team ramp up in preparation for the launch of its first city centre property. Mollie’s Manchester will open in late-2023.

Gover started his hospitality career as a Head Chef at the White Horse Hotel in Romsey in 2009. He later went on to Head Chef roles in Jamie’s Italian and The Pig in Brockenhurst. With nine years’ experience developing menus in recognisable brand kitchen’s, he moved into a Group Operations Chef role at Coppa Club.

It was here he prepared and modelled the scalability of the brand food offering and launched new Coppa Clubs in Streatley, Brighton and Cobham.
In his new role, Gover will work closely with Head of Food, Kate Brooke-Green, to enhance the F&B offering, customer experience strategy and to continue to develop the training and development programmes for teams in Bristol, Oxfordshire and beyond.

Come Q4, Gover will assist in the training and onboarding of a brand new team to head up Mollie’s Manchester, the brand’s first city centre property spanning 100,000sq ft in the 1950’s Manchester landmark building, Old Granada TV Studios. Mollie’s Manchester will have several key F&B touchpoints including a Diner, a grab & go deli, a large cocktail bar and live music event space as well as an outdoor heated terrace.

Dan Gover, Group Innovation & Development Chef at Mollie’s, said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Mollie’s on it’s expansion journey. Mollie’s is already a recognisable and distinctive brand in the industry that is well-loved by its guests, and there’s so much we’re planning to explore with concept and I’m looking forward to rising to the challenge. As we gear up to launch Manchester, it’s a busy time, and we look forward to crafting an opening model that we can roll out across more UK sites – both roadside and city centre – in the near future.”

Darren Sweetland, Managing Director of Mollie’s, adds: “I’m delighted to welcome Dan into Mollie’s, adding further capability to the senior team and further evidence of the quality of talent we’re bringing into the company as we embark on our expansion. Dan has made a strong start in his first few months and I’m excited to see that build moving forward as we prepare for our next opening in Manchester.”