Nine years after taking up the c-suite marketing chief’s post at challenger QSR brand, Guzman y Gomez, and now global CMO of an ASX-listed, globally expansive company commanding 256 restaurants and $1.1bn in annual sales, Lara Thom has recruited her first dedicated director of marketing overseeing the Australian marketing team.

Claire West is joining GyG as director of marketing – Australia from February 2026. She’s spent the last two years as GM of brand and marketing at Woolworths Supermarkets, and was previously head of marketing, brand and strategy at Big W before that. In all, she boasts 25 years’ experience, including many years driving growth and brand transformation within large-scale organisations. 

“Claire will be joining Alison Peake, who is our Director of Communications, PR & Events, in leading the GYG marketing function in Australia and supporting our brand and restaurants here and globally,” said GYG’s global CMO, Lara Thom. “We are incredibly excited to have a senior executive of Claire’s calibre leading our marketing team in Australia. The growth GYG is seeing is phenomenal, and I have no doubt that Claire is going to add yet another layer of marketing excellence to the growth of the brand and the talent in the team.”

West will take direct leadership of the marketing function in Australia with National, Local Area Marketing, Creative, Content & Strategy, Digital, Delivery and Guest Experience reporting directly into her. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to be joining the powerhouse team at GYG next year. They have built a world-class product, brand and customer experience, and I am thrilled at the chance to be part of the next chapter of growth. The instant cred I now have with my tween/teen kids and the burritos for lunch are secondary but welcome perks,” West commented.  

Describing the new hire as an “absolutely complementary” to her own skillset and approach, Thom told Mi3 the elevated local marketing director’s role will focus on bolstering GyG’s growth and brand presence in the Australian market while she continues to grow the business elsewhere. In 2025, Thom has spent 40 per cent of her time internationally, leading marketing, brand and commercial strategies.

The local appointment comes after months of extensive vetting to seek out the best candidate for the newly created role. Mi3 understands that hundreds of applications from both local and international candidates were received, reportedly going well beyond the QSR category. The volume of applicants for the GyG job is indicative of a broader trend Mi3 is also hearing of across the industry, where huge swathes of marketers are applying for senior marketing roles as redundancies and tough economic conditions see a flood of talent on the market. 

Among her career highlights are repositioning the Westpac brand for a younger audience post the banking Royal Commission and driving significant growth for BIG W while navigating challenging COVID-19 trading conditions. She also scored a gold Effie for long-term effectiveness in 2022. 

Nearly 20 years on from its debut in Sydney and nearly 18 months after listing on the ASX, GyG just keeps going from strength to strength. In FY25, total network sales were up 23 per cent year-on-year to $1.18 billion, cracking the $1bn milestone for the first time, while overall EBITDA was up 45.5 per cent to $65.1m. In Australia, underlying segment EBITDA was up 44.7 per cent to $66m off the back of 9.6 per cent comp sales growth and $1.094bn in network sales.

As at the end of FY25, it boasted a network of 256 restaurants and 15,000 employees across Australia, Singapore, Japan and the US. Over the last year alone, 39 new locations opened, including 32 in Australia and 2 in the US, and there are another 98 restaurants in the Australian pipeline. Locally, GyG owns 81 sites and has 143 franchised sites.

It’s been the ride of a lifetime for Thom, who was honoured with the top spot in this year’s inaugural CMO Awards, powered by Mi3, for the work she’s done to turn the challenger brand with cult following into a global powerhouse and one of the fastest-growing QSR brands in the world. During her tenure, the business has opened nearly 200 locations, closed a $3bn IPO and listed on the ASX in May 2024.

For Thom, marketing has been the growth engine behind these efforts.  “Marketing sits at the intersection of data, creativity, and commercial accountability. And as a leader, I’ve built a team and a system that moves fast, stays agile, and delivers results,” Thom said in her CMO Awards submission.