Nisa chief executive Ken Towle is to head up Asda’s huge supermarket portfolio.
He takes the retail director role with the grocery giant following the departure of Derek Lawler.
Co-op chief commercial officer Michael Fletcher will take the helm of the Scunthorpe-headquartered delivered wholesale specialist he led the acquisition of back in 2018.
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Mr Towle, who joined the company then, said: "It has been a privilege to lead the Nisa business. Nisa is fortunate to work with fantastic partners from whom I have learnt so much. I wish everyone continued success in the future.
“It’s an exciting time to be joining the Asda team and I am really looking forward to getting started later in the year.”
Prior to his appointment at the Normanby Enterprise Park base, Mr Towle had spent 30 years with Tesco, including roles as stores director, chief executive for China and finally managing director for Central Europe, Ireland and Turkey.
Mr Fletcher - another former Tesco executive - joined Co-op’s food business in 2013, and brings extensive operational experience, developing and leading commercial strategy, opening new markets and leading integration synergy initiatives.
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Over the past two years, while handling Covid-19 challenges, he has overseen the deployment of the Retail Business Transformation programme, which delivered a significant step change in the Co-op’s proposition. He also helped create the new operating model for Nisa, which enabled Nisa to leverage the synergies between Co-op and Nisa - driving greater value.
“I am delighted to take on the leadership of the Nisa business,” he said. “I know many of the partners and I look forward to meeting many more as we work together to make the very most of an exciting future."
He spent 22 years at Tesco, having joined the graduation programme in 1991.
He took a first director role in 2001, becoming commercial director in Tesco Malaysia and Ireland.
Mr Fletcher, who is married with three children, led the Tesco group procurement function and the savings programme in Asia, central Europe and 海角视频.
At Asda, Kris Comerford joins later this year as chief commercial officer - food, with Simon Gregg, who currently leads Asda’s online operation, joining the executive leadership team.
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Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who own Asda with TDR Capital Ltd, said: “Regretfully, Derek Lawlor has decided to leave the business after six years, and he goes with our best wishes and thanks for the future. He has made a real and tangible difference to our business and we thank him for all he has done.
“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 海角视频 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.”
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