A year is not a lot of time at one of the top jobs in grocery. And certainly a short timeframe to throw in the towel, even if it is by “mutual decision” with your ultra-demanding billionaire boss.

But that’s exactly what Ken Towle has done at Asda. In fact, it’s not even been a year. While his appointment as retail and logistics director was announced 12 months ago, it was actually only in May the former Tesco and Nisa veteran started in the role after a spot of gardening leave.

At the time of his appointment, Towle was seen as a successful addition to the management team by the Issa brothers, along with Kris Comerford from Tesco. These high-level coups went some way to mitigate the well-published failure to land a CEO.

Aside from the speed of Towle’s departure from the role, what’s most surprising is the timing. It comes just as Asda shows some encouraging signs of starting to get its act together in stores, after years of being the underperformer of the big four.

The launch of Asda’s long overdue rewards scheme, and lightning rollout of its “in tune with the times” Just Essentials lineup were accompanied by palpable improvements in availability and store standards, albeit from what had become a low base.

Towle must take some credit for those moves. He has also fronted tough but likely vital decisions to make operations more efficient, such as shifting more than 4,000 night worker roles to morning and twilight roles, as part of a major shakeup of operations.

Ironically, he will now depart Asda HQ before that consultation decides how many others will follow suit from the store ranks.

On a less positive note, Asda has been among those most impacted by the shortages of fresh produce this week.

Whether that has anything to do with Towle is another matter, but he didn’t seem to leave under the praise that his level of achievement would warrant. Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa was hardly effusive in his announcement this week, simply thanking Towle “for his contribution to the business” and wishing him “the best for the future”.

It suggests some sort of fallout, which is always going to be a peril of the job – especially when working with the sort of driven entrepreneurial leadership Issa represents. Former CEO Roger Burnley, of course, also left his job earlier than expected.

“What nobody should be surprised about is that the Issa brothers will make ruthless decisions,” says one industry source. “They are extremely driven and focused and will do what they think it takes.”

The latest appointment of Aldi’s marketing boss David Hills is perhaps a sign of the further shift in offer and price perception that the owners feel Asda still needs to achieve, alongside the rollout of its convenience operation, which culminated in the launch of Asda’s 100th On The Move store this week.

Yet if anyone had the experience of the c-store and supermarket world, it was Towle, who became Nisa CEO in 2018.

Indeed, it was this experience that saw him mentioned in some quarters as a possible replacement for Morrisons boss David Potts, as and when he decides to step down at Morrisons.

Some sources, however, believes Towle is too low-profile and quiet a figure for such a top job – and suggest the likes of Comerford and Issa himself have been the most prominent in the Asda turnaround.

Those aforementioned qualities may be one reason for his short stint at Asda. Whilst the Issas themselves have largely dodged the media, the modern-day Asda is a very different world to anything Towle – or for that matter, most traditional supermarket bosses – will have encountered.

It’s a “get up and at ‘em” environment in which some will thrive and others will not, regardless of experience or talent.

The old days of Walmart are long gone and this is now a business doing things the Issa way, or the highway.

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