News Digest: After a 2006 shake-up at Yum, an executive named Hearl rose to the top position. But now Hearl is out, replaced by someone named Eaton. 

Yum executive Hearl will retire

Eaton to be new development chief

By Alex Davis
alexdavis@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Yum! Brands announced yesterday that the company’s chief operating and
development officer is retiring a year after he was promoted from
president of Pizza Hut.

The Louisville-based fast-food company said
Peter Hearl, 56, has decided to leave at the end of March after 17
years at Yum and its predecessor, PepsiCo. He will be succeeded by
Roger Eaton, a Yum veteran of 12 years who now oversees the company’s
restaurants in Australia and the South Pacific.

“Roger Eaton is the
perfect choice as Yum’s new chief operating and development officer,”
David Novak, Yum’s chief executive officer, said in a statement
yesterday. “He is one of our very best leaders, with enormous talent,
strategic thinking, energy, commitment and a stellar track record of
consistent results.”

Hearl’s appointment on Dec. 1, 2006, was
part of a shake-up of Yum’s domestic management team. At the time, Yum
faced lackluster domestic sales at many of its brands, including Taco
Bell and Pizza Hut.

(From the Courier Journal, via Language Log.)