Asda poaches Tesco and Nisa executives as it rebuilds leadership team

Comerford is set to join Asda in late summer of 2022 as chief commercial officer of food, replacing Derek Lawlor who has led the retailer’s commercial team since 2019. 

Asda also confirmed that current Nisa chief executive Ken Towle would be joining its executive leadership team later in the year as retail director, with responsibility for all of the retailer’s stores. 

The grocer also said that it had promoted current vice president of ecommerce and online grocery shopping Simon Gregg to the executive leadership team, highlighting the “increasing relevance of online to Asda’s business”. 

Liz Evans also joins the executive team this week as managing director of George, having joined Asda in September 2021 to lead its fashion and general merchandise business. 

The moves represent a major reshuffle of the Asda senior leadership team which has been almost completely overturned since owners Mohsin and Zuber Issa completed the takeover of the business last year. 

Chief executive Roger Burnley stood down in August last year, joining the likes of former chief financial officer Rob McWilliam, chief operating officer Anthony Hemmerdinger and chief strategy officer Preyash Thakrar who have all left the business since the acquisition. 

The Issa brothers said: “The appointment of Ken Towle, Kris Comerford and Simon Gregg to our leadership team will bring a great combination of experience and new thinking to our table. Ken’s considerable expertise as a Retail and Wholesale CEO with many years’ experience in some of the largest and most complex businesses, both in the UK and internationally, make him the right person to lead our retail operations team.

“Kris’ breadth of experience will be invaluable for us as we build on our recent successes and continue our drive to become a market leader in food. I am confident that under his leadership we will continue to make great strides in this important ambition. 

“Simon has done a fantastic job of leading our online team and his appointment to the exec team demonstrates the continued significance of online to our business growth.

“We are delighted that we continue to attract such talent to our great business. Together, we will continue to put our customers at the heart of all our decision making and focus on delivering excellent service in what we know will be another challenging period for consumers.”

Changes at Nisa

Co-op chief commercial officer Michael Fletcher is set to replace Towle in the job at Nisa. Fletcher joined the Co-op in 2013 and in that time played a key role in the acquisition and integration of Nisa products into the Co-op offer. 

Prior to joining the c-store specialists, Fletcher spent over 22 years at supermarket giant Tesco, moist notably as commercial director of the retailer’s Malaysian business. 

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