David Lloyd Joins Highland Consumer Partners as Restaurant Domain Expert

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Highland Consumer Partners, a growth-stage venture capital firm focused on the consumer sector, today announced that restaurant expert David Lloyd has joined the firm as a Domain Expert.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Bertucci's, David spearheaded a turnaround and repositioning of the business, including executing strategic initiatives such as extensive consumer research, senior management additions, and marketing initiatives. Mr. Lloyd was also responsible for creating a strategy to develop an entirely new concept to attract a younger demographic while utilizing Bertucci's core competencies of pizza and brick oven cooking. Prior to being elevated to CEO of the company, David was President and Chief Financial Officer at Bertucci's. Earlier in his career, he served as CFO of the Taco Bueno and Taco Cabana restaurant concepts. He began his career at Deloitte & Touche.

"David is an accomplished CEO with experience in building successful food service businesses," said Peter Cornetta, Managing General Partner with Highland. "As a trusted advisor and mentor, David has developed an exceptional network of entrepreneurs and operators in the restaurant sector. He has his finger on the pulse of the market and the companies that are helping to define the attractive opportunities for investment in the industry." 

"I am honored to partner with Highland as they make a further commitment to investing in the restaurant and food service sectors," said David Lloyd. "They are a firm dedicated to partnering with management teams of growth-stage companies in the consumer sector. I am excited to aid both in the evaluation of new opportunities as well as help Highland's food service portfolio companies execute on strategic growth initiatives."

Tom Stemberg, Managing General Partner with Highland, added, "The addition of David emphasizes the Highland Consumer Partners' model of marrying operating and investing expertise to help great people build great companies. We believe it is an excellent time to consider further investments in the restaurant/food service industry and David will be instrumental in advising us in this pursuit."

About Highland Consumer Partners
Highland Consumer Partners specializes in retail, services and consumer products investment opportunities in growth-focused companies with proven business models, operating in attractive growth markets. Highland brings together an investment team with extensive experience founding, growing, operating and investing in successful consumer companies. It also offers companies a unique value proposition through the hands-on guidance and active involvement of its domain experts. Highland Consumer Partners has invested in such firms as City Sports, DavidsTea, J.McLaughlin, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, Trupanion, Merrick, and Pinkberry.  For more information, visit Highland's web site at www.hcp.com.

SOURCE Highland Consumer Partners