Name: Darren Blackhurst
Was: Chief merchandising officer at Asda
Now: CEO at Matalan
Years in grocery: 24

Career background: “I have been a retailer for the past 24 years. I started work for Tesco in 1988 when I graduated and held a number of buying positions across fresh foods and grocery until I was seconded to their French business, Catteau, in 1994. I returned from that secondment in 1997 and then held a number of category director positions until being appointed as commercial director for their Tesco Lotus Thailand business in 2002. In 2006, I returned from Thailand, left Tesco and joined Asda/Walmart as executive trading director for food. In 2008, I was appointed group chief merchandising officer. In May 2011, I joined Matalan as chief executive.”

What were your biggest achievements in grocery?“Most probably, it would be turning around the Asda food business between 2006 and 2009 and building a world class trading team in the process.”

How is your current role different from those you held before? “The issues you face as a retailer are always pretty similar from one market to the next. At board level in any retailing business you have to work together as a team to lead the business and deliver for your customers. The enjoyable aspect of being chief executive is that you can cut through any red tape that may exist, enabling everyone in the organisation to align their efforts behind a compelling vision and a simple plan.”

Do you miss grocery and will you come back in future? “I have enjoyed my whole career thus far and have been really lucky to have worked with some great people over the years. As you can imagine, I always keep a watchful eye on the grocery sector. Many of the majors are competitors.”

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