Mr Bruyère, currently the trust’s director of hospitality, brings over 25 years of global experience to the role, having worked in iconic hotels such as the InterContinental Paris Le Grand, Fairmont St Andrews, and The Caledonian Edinburgh.

More recently, before joining the trust, Mr Bruyère also played a key role in the pre-opening and opening team of St James Quarter, Edinburgh’s retail and lifestyle destination, where he was director of operations and sustainability strategy.

He will succeed Bob Downie, who is retiring after 26 years of leading the trust, which manages the award-winning maritime attraction Britannia and the luxury floating hotel Fingal.

Chairman of the trust, Rear Admiral Neil Rankin CB CBE, said: “After a rigorous and thorough search, the board of trustees are confident that in Franck Bruyère we have found a very worthy successor to Bob Downie, who has been at the heart of Britannia’s outstanding success as a leading visitor attraction over many years.

“Franck Bruyère comes with a wealth of experience in the hotel, hospitality and visitor attraction industry and we look forward to the business continuing to move forward under his direction.”

Mr Bruyère is originally from France; he has been living in Scotland with his wife and two young sons for over a decade. He enjoys cooking, making a positive impact in the Edinburgh community, and travelling.

Mr Bruyère said: “It’s a huge privilege and an honour to be given the opportunity to lead the outstanding awardwinning teams on both Britannia and our sister-ship, the luxury floating hotel Fingal, and to follow in the footsteps of Bob Downie who has done so much to improve the quality of customer experiences in Scotland.”

Mr Bruyère added: “The ongoing regeneration of the Port of Leith with the recently opened tram link to Edinburgh city centre offers a fantastic opportunity for the area to make an even greater contribution to the UK’s second most visited city.”