Huddle House introduced restaurant industry veteran Brian Shortreed as brand president for the family dining chain. In this role, Shortreed will oversee company operations, the franchise system, marketing and culinary innovation.

Blain ShortreedPrior to joining Huddle House, Shortreed served as chief executive officer for Long John Silver’s. He initially joined the company as its COO before taking on the chief executive officer role.

Shortreed’s background also includes serving as Pizza Hut’s vice president of operations, responsible for the operations of more than 5,000 domestic corporate and franchise-owned locations, per a release announcing his Huddle House hiring. Shortreed also served as vice president of operations for Yum! Restaurants Canada, where he oversaw operations for the company and franchised KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell locations.