A major financial and commercial review at First Quench has led to changes at the top. Managing director Jerry Walton and finance director Bob Warne left this week as the board appointed Graham Frost as executive chairman. The City has been expecting joint owners Whitbread and Punch to sell off the giant off licence operation. There has been talk of a management buyout, but the necessary financial muscle has not been forthcoming. A Whitbread spokesman said: "There was an issue of momentum at First Quench in terms of the management of the brands and the application of synergies. These moves have been planned for some time and are part of our plans for the future of the company." Walton spent 10 years as md of Thresher. Warne came from the Victoria Wine side of the business. Frost was deputy chief executive of General Universal Stores, where he played a key role in the acquisition of Argos in 1998. He left GUS before Christmas. {{NEWS }}