Asda has announced the appointment of a new chief customer officer, with Andy Murray set to return to the US after four years in the role.
CEO Roger Burnley revealed Murray will be replaced by Australian Anna-Maree Shaw, who previously held senior commercial roles at Sainsbury’s before going on to launch her own company, Customer Dialogue, in Australia.
Murray took over as chief customer officer from Barry Williams in February 2016 under former CEO Andy Clarke, having previously served as Walmart’s senior VP of creative and customer experience in the US, and survived a subsequent turbulent period of management shake-ups at Asda.
Prior to joining Walmart, he held a variety of marketing and technology roles with Hallmark and P&G and also founded shopper marketing agency Saatchi & Saatchi X.
Asda said today it could not confirm if he was staying with Walmart or moving to a new role.
Shaw has most recently been working at the University of Queensland developing its digital strategy.
She has held a number of chief marketing officer roles in Australia as well as in the UK retail sector, having held roles including product and marketing manager at Sainsbury’s during her time at the retailer, from 2000 to 2005.
Former Sainsbury’s executive Burnley also announced the shake-up will see Asda’s SVP – operations, Anthony Hemmerdinger, promoted to chief operating officer, expanding his remit across technology and property.
Former retail director Hemmerdinger became SVP – operations in 2018.
Mark Simpson, who joined the business in 1997 as a graduate and has held a variety of roles within both retail and supply functions, has also been appointed to the Board as chief supply chain officer and will lead Asda’s supply and logistics functions.
Meanwhile, Helen Selby will join as Asda’s general counsel and company secretary following Alex Simpson’s departure last year.
Selby trained in private practice before moving into in-house roles, and has worked primarily in food retail manufacturing and grocery, having been general counsel and company secretary at Hovis and most recently at Mars Wrigley UK.
The new appointments join Hayley Tatum, chief people officer, Derek Lawlor, chief merchandising officer and Rob McWilliam, chief financial officer to complete Asda’s leadership team.
Under the new structure, George will continue to report directly into CEO Roger Burnley, following the appointment of Steph Strike to the role of MD George in December.
Burnley said; “As we kick off 2020 I am very confident that not only do we have the right team in place, but also the right strategy to make sure we can continue to serve our customers and grow our business, not just for this year but beyond.”
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