Morrisons has hired former Lidl COO Matt Heslop to become its new director of convenience and wholesale, as part of a series of management appointees by CEO Rami Baitiéh.
Heslop had been due to join Asda to run its stores and distribution network, including its 470-strong Asda Express division, but it was announced in January that he would no longer be joining the company.
He served at Lidl for more than 20 years in a number of roles, most recently as chief operating officer.
Heslop’s move to Morrisons follows the arrival of Andrew Staniland, former group buying director at Iceland and The Food Warehouse. He joined Morrisons as group trading director for food, also after pulling out of a move to Asda.
Morrisons said, like Staniland, Heslop had deep experience in food retail and would further bolster the effectiveness of its management team.
Morrisons has also appointed Bruno Lebon, a former colleague of Baitiéh at Carrefour, as its group trading director for non-food. It described Lebon as one of the most experienced supermarket retailers in Europe, with over 39 years experience at Carrefour, most recently as executive director of supermarkets and hypermarkets.
In another major move, Morrisons has again raided Asda, with Matt McLellan joining in the newly created role of group data and media director. He will take up the role later this year.
McLellan, who joined Asda in 2020 after previous roles at Tesco and Dunnhumby, was responsible for the design and launch of its loyalty proposition and for developing a wide range of high-profile customer programmes and initiatives.
Last year he was put in charge of Asda’s new LS Eleven which brought together its loyalty scheme, Asda Rewards, and retail media business to building the data capability of Asda Rewards.
All three new hires will report directly to Baitiéh.
Separately, Martin Dawson, who was appointed interim operations director – retail, in February last year has now been formally appointed by Morrisons as group retail director and also as a member of the executive committee. Online operations director Charlotte Exell has been promoted to take on full responsibility for the Morrisons online offer in the newly created role of online director.
Rachel Eyre, chief customer and marketing officer, returns to Morrisons on 3 March from maternity leave.
Recent group like-for-like sales were up 4.9% for Q4 and 4.1% for the year, making it eight consecutive quarters of positive like-for-like sales. Morrisons claimed the fourth quarter was the strongest like-for-like sales improvement for almost four years.
Baitiéh said: “I’m very pleased to welcome three outstanding retailers to the Morrisons leadership team and to warmly welcome Rachel back from her maternity leave. All the new joiners have exceptional records in their fields and bring deep experience, a history of delivering growth and a clear customer focus. As Morrisons continues its reinvigoration and growth, their skills and their passion for the customer will make them a powerful addition to our team.
“Martin Dawson has made a significant impact in his new role over the last year and I am delighted to confirm him in the key role of group retail director. And Charlotte Exell has played a vital part in the recent growth of our online business and I’m confident that under her leadership Morrisons.com will go from strength to strength.”
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