Timezone Group and Helix Leisure Group have announced that Bala Cherukooru has been appointed as new store and operations development director at Timezone Australia, Sydney.

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Cherukooru currently works as general manager for the Helix Leisure Group in Singapore. He will be leaving this position to undertake his new role, with the transition to Sydney taking place over the next two months.

In the last eight months, Timezone Australia has opened three new locations, with more locations, including new outlets at Werribee in Melbourne and Mackay in Queensland, planned for the next three months.

Cherukooru has a long history of involvement with LAI Group companies, having first started with Timezone on Australia’s Gold Coast back in 2004. Bala then joined Helix Leisure in 2008 as part of the team that established Middle East operations for Embed, based in Dubai. He then went on to lead the Dubai office as general manager for three years, from 2011 to 2013, after which he moved to Singapore in his current role.

Timezone Australia general manager Kane Fong said: “We are excited to have Bala rejoining the Timezone team as we have a big growth agenda for the concept in Australia. Bala is already very familiar with the Timezone business and will bring a wealth of new experience from his time during the last few years working with Helix Leisure.”

Luke McKimmie, Helix chief operating officer, said: “Bala has been a key contributor to the growth of the Helix business in the Middle East and Asia and we are sad to lose him from the Helix team. However, we can see the great opportunity for him that exists in Timezone Australia and agree that Bala’s skills and experience are perfectly suited to this, so we look forward to supporting him in this new role.”