Iceland Foods does not plan to recruit a direct replacement for group buying director Andrew Staniland, who is set to join Asda in March.
As reported by The Grocer earlier this month, Staniland is set to take a VP role at Asda, amid an ongoing management shake-up at the supermarket. He was the second senior Iceland figure to be poached by Asda within days, after its group chief digital and marketing officer David Devany was announced as Asda’s new VP for e-commerce the previous week.
Iceland told The Grocer responsibility for buying would pass to Paul Dhaliwal, who is to take on the newly created role of chief commercial officer.
Devany “will not be replaced” either, an Iceland spokesman said. He did not confirm who responsibilities for e-commerce or digital operations would pass to.
Responsibility for marketing was passed from Devany to Joseph Gummett in December 2023. The move saw Gummett promoted from head of design to marketing director, reporting directly to executive chairman Richard Walker.
Since joining Iceland from Aldi in 2019, Staniland has played a crucial role in building the supermarket’s exclusive brand programme, expansion of its non-frozen categories and more recently the rollout of its Mix & Match multibuy promotions. All have been critical in helping Iceland to grow its market share over the past year in particular.
He will remain with the business for the immediate future to oversee the transition of his role.
Dhaliwal, son of Iceland Foods Group co-owner and CEO Tarsem Dhaliwal, rejoined the family-owned business in 2015, having previously worked as a store assistant.
After Tarsem Dhaliwal and Iceland co-founder Malcolm Walker took full ownership of the group in 2020, Paul Dhaliwal was promoted to head of commercial for The Food Warehouse. Then, in 2021, he became trading director at Iceland Foods. He has been group sales director since January 2023.
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