Exclusive: Co-op names ‘co-managing directors’ to cover Jo Whitfield absence

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The Co-op is poised to promote two senior executives to “co-managing directors” of its food business to cover boss Jo Whitfield’s career break.

Retail Week has learned that chief operating officer Chris Whitfield and chief commercial officer Matt Hood will assume joint leadership of the Co-op’s core convenience division when Jo Whitfield takes four months off from May.

The appointments have yet to be announced internally and it is understood that Hood and Chris Whitfield’s official job titles are still to be confirmed. But one insider said the duo would effectively operate as “co-managing directors” during Jo Whitfield’s absence.

The Co-op initially said in February that group chief executive Steve Murrells would take day-to-day responsibility for the food business while Jo Whitfield stepped aside to help her sons through their exams.

But last week, the Co-op revealed that Murrells himself would leave the mutual in May, following its AGM.

That would leave the Co-op’s food business without an outright leader at the helm, though the c-store operator is now close to filling the void with the former Tesco duo.

Chris Whitfield spent more than two decades at Britain’s biggest retailer between 1993 and 2015, culminating in three years as the chief operating officer of Tesco Lotus in Thailand.

He joined the Co-op as chief operating officer in March 2015.

Hood also moved to the Co-op from Tesco, in October 2012, initially as head of commercial in its chilled category.

He became trading director in January 2018 and was promoted to chief commercial officer in January this year.

One source close to the Co-op said the pair “will maintain our resilience in a competitive market and drive the business forward to set us up for continued success”.