Durkin was senior director of strategy at the big-four grocer. His new role will be to lead Cushman & Wakefield’s retail property team and focus on “delivering advisory services to clients operating in a sector evolving at unprecedented pace”.

Durkin was at Asda for just over a year. Prior to that, he worked for multinational brewing and beverage company SABMiller, management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company and spent over fire years with Morrisons.