Tesco’s appointment of Matt Davies and Barry Williams’ promotion at Asda – which retail moves and exits are making waves in 2015 so far?
Move of the month…
…can only be Tesco’s appointment of the impressive Matt Davies to head its UK & Ireland business. The hire of Davies is undoubtedly a risk given that it leaves two people with no direct food retail experience at the head of the country’s biggest grocer. Yet the former Halfords and Pets at Home boss is extremely well regarded in the industry and has a reputation for putting customer service at the heart of the organisations under his command. With Tesco desperately needing to reconnect with its customers it could be a match made in heaven.
- For a comprehensive list of retail moves in January, see the table on the right.
Promotion of the month…
…is for Barry Williams who left his role as Asda’s chief merchandising officer for food to become chief customer officer. It marks another step up the ladder for Williams who joined Asda as category director in 2009 and assumed his most recent role in April 2012. A honourable mention must also go to the well-travelled Steve Smith who returned to Wal-Mart as chief marketing officer following his secondment to Asda via a stint in China.
Anxious times for…
…anyone occupying a head office role at a mid-market supermarket after a brutal start to the year. Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco are all trimming organisational fat in a bid to get in shape for a fierce price war, leaving employees waiting nervously for reassurance that their position is secure.
Surprise exit for…
…Gap’s outgoing creative director and fashion heavyweight Rebekka Bay who looks to have shouldered the blame for the retailer’s lacklustre recent collections and poor sales performance. Not such a surprise was the (some might argue overdue) departure of Morrisons chief executive Dalton Phillips who was ushered out the door following yet another quarterly sales slump.
Switching codes…
…is Nick Read who left travel operator Thomas Cook to become chief executive of convenience store group Nisa. With stints at Tesco and Aldi on his CV Read will find the retail terrain familiar. Craig Lovelace also swapped sectors, moving from General Healthcare Group to become chief financial officer of home shopping business N Brown.
And it’s goodbye from…
…Andrew Gerrie who bowed out as chief executive of Lush after 20 years at the business. Also stepping down was Mike Shearwood from the Aurora Board ahead of a possible break-up of the group.
Tony’s trends
January is a month where retailers take a step back and consider whether their human resource is appropriately matched to their strategy for the year ahead.
But this year the focus on cost control seems especially hard-nosed with functions such as buying and customer service coming under severe scrutiny to see if there’s any meat to trim off the bone.
Food retailers, in particular, are slimming down whilst also playing musical chairs in the boardroom. The axing of Dalton Philips leaves a vacancy in the Morrisons hot seat that would be expertly filled by Monsoon’s John Browett, who could be just the man to restore Morrisons reputation for retail excellence.
Elsewhere, I expect Allan Leighton to take the chairmanship of the Co-op to form a mouthwatering partnership with Richard Pennycook.
The Anthony Gregg Partnership
Tony Gregg is chief executive of the Anthony Gregg Partnership. Founded in 2003 and located in Henley-in-Arden and London,The Anthony Gregg Partnership specialises in the consumer search market space.
You can call Tony Gregg on 01564 796830 or email him at tony@anthonygregg.com.
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