Asda chief operating officer Simon King has left the grocer just six months after joining.

King is understood to have left today. Sources said his appointment did not work out at the grocer.

King joined Asda on January 10 this year, moving from Saudi Arabia where he was chief executive of supermarket operator Panda Retail, a subsidiary of The Savola Group.

Prior to that he was chief executive of Tesco Kipa in Turkey, and before that was at Tesco’s operations in South Korea and eastern Europe. He was also previously at Safeway.

At Asda King took up the role vacated by Andy Clarke when he moved up to become chief executive. His responsibilities covered retail, supply chain, distribution, customer service and internal communications.

It is understood Asda will announce a replacement for King at the end of June.

Topics