One of the most powerful voices of the retail industry is to step down from his role after more than 20 years.
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC, is to leave the consortium in October.
Opie, who before joining the BRC was head of policy at the NFU, has frequently been the voice of supermarkets and the wider retail industry. He has been a key figure amid a series of national crises, including Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
The Grocer understands Opie’s food policy role will be taken over by BRC corporate affairs director Jim Bligh, who joined the consortium from the FDF earlier this year, where he was director of corporate affairs and packaging policy. Bligh has been a corporate affairs boss at several large companies including PepsiCo.
Opie has led recent industry calls for government action to help tackle the threat of Inflation from the war in Iran.
Giving evidence at the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee this week, Opie said the government needed to “intervene now” to help companies with their energy bills.
He also called for a six-month suspension to the extended producer responsibility packaging tax and a pause to all new regulation of the food industry.
“We are now going to go into a period of at least a year of higher food inflation than anyone anticipated at a time when customers are struggling with high energy prices and we’ve got historically high food prices,” Opie said.
“This is a really challenging situation for supermarkets, suppliers, farmers and particularly for customers.”
Opie also spoke out recently about how the industry had not “appreciated the scale and breadth of changes” posed by the EU reset.
A forceful voice, Opie has been seen as a steady hand on the tiller in years of uncertainty.
As one source put it: “Who would you want to call to give evidence to MPs? A meek and mild civil servant type or someone like Opie, who will give it to them with both barrels?”
BRC CEO Helen Dickinson said: “After 21 incredible years, Andrew Opie is stepping down as food and sustainability director in October.
“Andrew has made a hugely significant contribution over his tenure, and his leadership, expertise and commitment have played an important role both in our success supporting members and shaping government policy.
“From Brexit to the pandemic, Andrew has been at the forefront of every challenge facing the industry.
“Andrew is not entirely sure what he’ll do after he leaves, but it won’t be a full-time role.
“In the meantime, the BRC will continue to benefit from Andrew’s hard work and experience for another next six months and we’ll ensure we maintain our leading role in food and sustainability policy long into the future.”
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