Morrisons has poached one of Asda’s rising stars to head up its ethnic buying team.

Noor Ali has joined the Bradford-based retailer as its lead ethnic buyer, having previously spent 12 years at Asda where she held the position of buyer for ethnic, non-food, frozen foods and ethnic concessions.

Ali initially joined Asda as a checkout operator in 2000. After six months, she moved to head office where she held roles in human resources, merchandising and marketing before setting up its ethnic team. Her team grew Asda’s ethnic category from just a few lines to more than 15,000, and her work both within Asda and wider charity and community work helped Ali win the title of Businesswoman of the Year 2011 at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards. Ali is a member of charities EMAG (Ethnic Minority Advisory Group) and Race for Opportunity and the Mosaic Group, through which she mentors other Asian women and schoolchildren.

At the time of her award, Asda COO Judith McKenna described Ali as a well-respected member of the team. “She never fails in her positive ‘can do’ attitude and commitment to achieving excellence with a smile on her face,” she said.

Morrisons foods of the world buying manager Rory Feldman said: “Bringing Noor into Morrisons marks a step-change in our approach to serving one of the fastest growing and most underserved customer markets in the UK. The ethnic food sector is a key focus for us and we have ambitious plans.”

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