Ocado has confirmed this morning that Tim Steiner will remain as chief executive of the grocery tech group following a boardroom tussle with chairman Adam Warby.
Steiner will continue to serve as CEO through the start of the 2028 financial year and remained “fully committed to driving the company’s strategy, operations and growth initiatives throughout this period”, a statement to the London Stock Exchange said.
He will also continue to be “actively involved” with the company through 2029.
It follows two weeks of speculation on the future of Ocado’s founder and boss at the company as various media reports documented a battle in the boardroom.
Warby is understood to have been behind a push to seek a replacement for Steiner after shares at Ocado slumped to new lows following big global customers paring back ties with the group, including US chain Kroger and Canadian grocer Sobeys.
However, last week it emerged one of Ocado’s largest shareholders had written to the board asking for Warby to be removed for his attempts to oust Steiner.
Ocado said this morning it was “pleased to provide further clarity on the next phase of its long-term leadership transition”.
Read more: Ocado weighs up potential replacement for CEO Tim Steiner
“The board and Tim have been engaged in a thoughtful and collaborative succession planning process designed to support Ocado’s long-term success,” the statement added.
“The company expects this process to conclude around the start of the 2028 financial year. During FY27 and up to the completion of the succession process, Tim will continue leading the business as CEO while working closely with the board to identify and prepare the next generation of leadership.
“Together, they will ensure a smooth and orderly transition of executive responsibilities, maintaining continuity for colleagues, clients and shareholders.”
Following the eventual appointment of a successor, Steiner would transition into a founder role, “reflecting his unique perspective and longstanding commitment to Ocado”, the statement said.
“In this capacity, he will continue to provide strategic guidance, deep market expertise and support to the board, management team and customers through 2029, helping to advance the company’s long-term ambitions and strengthen its relationships across the industry. The board is grateful for Tim’s continued leadership and looks forward to working alongside him throughout this next chapter of Ocado’s development.”
Steiner set up Ocado Group with former Goldman Sachs colleagues Jonathan Faiman and Jason Gissing in 2000. He led it to a float on the London Stock Exchange in 2010, with shares soaring to highs of almost 3,000p during the pandemic.
But the stock has crashed in the interim year to trade back at the IPO price of 180p.
Bernstein analyst William Woods said this morning the Ocado statement on succession planning provided “an orderly resolution” to the reported boardroom struggles over the past couple of months and enabled Ocado to find the right candidate.
“However, it will be challenging to replace the founder and driving visionary of the business, given the issues facing the business at the moment. We also think that this is difficult at this juncture in the business given the issues facing the large CFC model and the need to pivot to smaller store-based automation solutions, where they currently don’t have a solution working at scale.
“It may also provide a catalyst for further rationalisation of the business including the sale of the remainder of the Ocado Retail JV to M&S.”
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