Sandy Orr and Donald MacDonald - not related to chairman Donald Macdonald - plan to spend more time on the City Inn urban hotel chain, their Scottish Selection rural retreats and Edinburgh's Caledonian Brewery.
City Inn, which is run by Orr's son David and part-owned by MacDonald and Orr, is set to open three or four more hotels in the next few years. It currently has five branches - the most recent, with 460 rooms, opened in London this year.
MacDonald said: "Sandy and I have had a great time with Macdonald Hotels, but there are only so many hours in the day. City Inn is very much a major activity for us. We would love to do one in Edinburgh and one in Leeds, and possibly another one in London. We are keen to develop this as quickly as is sensible."
MacDonald and Orr's interests also include hotels in Bridge of Orchy, Loch Lomond and Tongue grouped under the Scottish Selection brand. The pair recently committed GBP 2m to upgrade two of the hotels to cater for walkers, cyclists and publicity-shy celebrities.
The two were key figures in last year's successful move to buy back Macdonald Hotels after years of indifferent performance on the stock market.
MacDonald denied there had been any conflict of interest between Macdonald Hotels, which runs 60 medium-to-upper-class hotels, and the pair's separate hospitality ventures.
Macdonald Hotels chairman Donald Macdonald said: "Expanding business interests led to a reappraisal of the board structure. This has been under discussion for some time and the outcome is a very amicable parting of the ways. An announcement on the future composition of the Board will be made in due course."
The Bathgate-based group promoted one of its managers to director level earlier this year. Mike McGill, former finance director of Malcolm Group and Macdonald group financial controller, became a board member in June.
MacDonald and Orr will also be spending more time on Caledonian Brewing, the Edinburgh real ale maker in which they have held a 51 per cent stake since January. Scottish & Newcastle plans to move production of its McEwans ales to the "Caley" brewery site early next year when it closes its nearby Fountain Brewery complex.
The move should ensure the smaller brewery's future, but such a rapid expansion - nearly doubling production - will require careful management.
