Caffè Nero UK CEO Will Stratton-Morris has stepped down from his role and from the UK board, the company has confirmed in its latest trading update.

Stratton-Morris, who led the UK business for more than seven years, will remain with the company in a new group-level position as chief business development officer.

Caffè Nero founder and group CEO Gerry Ford said: “Will has worked very hard over the past seven years to promote the Caffè Nero business in the United Kingdom. The board and I would like to thank him for all his effort and commitment."

"As we move into a phase of greater expansion, I’m sure Will’s skill sets will prove extremely useful to the group in establishing new business partnerships, developing our footprint in new countries and securing new commercial relationships.”

In the interim, leadership of the UK business will be overseen by Ford, group CFO Ben Price and Caffè Nero UK managing director Glyn House. The company said the process to appoint a new UK CEO is already underway, with an announcement expected in the coming months.

The leadership changes were announced alongside a strong Q3 performance for the group, which reported 11% year-on-year global sales growth for the period from December to February.

In the UK, Q3 sales rose 8%, with like-for-like growth of 6.2%. The group also reported record Christmas trading, with over 2 million UK customers served in December and two record sales weeks of more than £9 million.

The Nero Group currently operates 1,121 stores across 11 countries, including more than 700 in the UK.