The Co-operative Group has kept on two Somerfield directors following the completion of its £1.57bn acquisition of the supermarket chain this week - but a raft of others have now left the business.
Retail director John Cleland will stay on with The Co-op Group as MD of Somerfield. He will take on day-to-day responsibility for the chain and report to Tim Hurrell, The Co-op Group's MD for food.
Somerfield strategy and business systems director Oliver Meakin also remains in his current role and will be responsible for managing the Somerfield integration team.
CEO Paul Mason, finance director David Cheyne and trading director Colin Smith have left but will be used for "a period of time" in an advisory capacity to help with the integration. However, chairman John Lovering has stepped down and will no longer be involved with Somerfield.
Mason, Cheyne and Smith are well known in the industry. Mason is a former president and MD of Asda, while Cheyne was commercial director of c-store chain Alldays, which was bought by The Co-op Group in 2002. Smith, meanwhile, held a number of senior positions at Tesco, including commercial director and regional managing director.
"There has been a real turnaround at Somerfield over the past three years. Our profit margin has doubled and our shareholders have doubled their investment," Mason told The Grocer. "Through acquiring Somerfield, The Co-op Group is doubling its size. This will enable it to benefit from scale economies that will drive an improvement in the customer offer especially around the value that The Co-op Group can give to customers."
Commenting on Cleland's continuing role, Hurrell said: "John has played an important and significant part in the transformation of Somerfield, and I am delighted he has agreed to stay on for the foreseeable future to manage Somerfield through the integration. My team and I are excited about working with the Somerfield team to integrate these two businesses."
Retail director John Cleland will stay on with The Co-op Group as MD of Somerfield. He will take on day-to-day responsibility for the chain and report to Tim Hurrell, The Co-op Group's MD for food.
Somerfield strategy and business systems director Oliver Meakin also remains in his current role and will be responsible for managing the Somerfield integration team.
CEO Paul Mason, finance director David Cheyne and trading director Colin Smith have left but will be used for "a period of time" in an advisory capacity to help with the integration. However, chairman John Lovering has stepped down and will no longer be involved with Somerfield.
Mason, Cheyne and Smith are well known in the industry. Mason is a former president and MD of Asda, while Cheyne was commercial director of c-store chain Alldays, which was bought by The Co-op Group in 2002. Smith, meanwhile, held a number of senior positions at Tesco, including commercial director and regional managing director.
"There has been a real turnaround at Somerfield over the past three years. Our profit margin has doubled and our shareholders have doubled their investment," Mason told The Grocer. "Through acquiring Somerfield, The Co-op Group is doubling its size. This will enable it to benefit from scale economies that will drive an improvement in the customer offer especially around the value that The Co-op Group can give to customers."
Commenting on Cleland's continuing role, Hurrell said: "John has played an important and significant part in the transformation of Somerfield, and I am delighted he has agreed to stay on for the foreseeable future to manage Somerfield through the integration. My team and I are excited about working with the Somerfield team to integrate these two businesses."
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