Asda co-owner Mohsin Issa is to step down from his executive leadership role at the supermarket, to be replaced by a new leadership team headed by chairman Stuart Rose.
After the dramatic move, Rose, the former Marks & Spencer boss who became Asda chairman in 2021, will run Asda alongside Rob Hattrell, a partner at joint owner TDR Capital.
Asda said it was still searching for a new CEO to lead the business.
TDR became the majority owner of Asda in June after buying out the share’s of Mohsin’s brother Zuber Issa. The private equity giant invested in Asda alongside the Issa brothers in June 2021, when together they took majority ownership.
The shareholder group stressed it had invested £3.8bn during the past three years to build a bigger and better Asda for the long term.
But despite growing its store footprint from 623 to 1,200 stores and launching a new loyalty app, which now has six million active customers, Asda has continued to be outperformed by its rivals. Its store standards, pricing strategy and leadership team have all faced scrutiny.
In July, Asda announced plans for a major store reset programme, including a £30m emergency investment into more staffing hours, after admitting it had fallen below the retailing standards customers demand. Union bosses claimed the figure was a “drop in the ocean” compared with what was needed.
Despite today’s move, Mohsin Issa will remain a co-owner of Asda and non-executive on the board. “We respect Mohsin’s decision to move on from his role at Asda where his work is complete to be the sole CEO of EG Group,” Rose said.
“We are very grateful to Mohsin for the role he has played in overseeing Asda, including launching into the growth market of convenience stores and introducing a loyalty app now used by more than six million customers.
“He has laid the foundations to deliver a world-class IT infrastructure, strengthening Asda for the long term. I look forward to continuing to benefit from his insight as a non-executive director on our board.”
Issa said: “I am very proud of the highly experienced team we have built, and the significant progress made to build a bigger and better Asda over the last three years, as well as our unwavering commitment to provide customers with uncompromising value.
“Given these achievements and the significant strategic steps we have taken, I have decided now is the right time for me to step back from my oversight role at Asda to focus on EG Group as sole chief executive. It is a very exciting time for EG Group, and I am looking forward to focusing on the business while supporting Stuart, Rob and the leadership team in my capacity as a shareholder of Asda.”
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