Retail veteran Stuart Rose confirmed as Asda chair

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Nov 24, 2021

Stuart Rose has been appointed chairman of UK supermarket giant Asda as of next month. The UK retail veteran, who stepped down as chair of Ocado earlier this year, will be initially tasked with leading the board’s recruitment of a new chief executive.

Lord Rose, who had been chief executive of Marks & Spencer and the now-failed Arcadia Group, joins Asda around a year after its £6.8 billion acquisition by private equity firm TDR Capital and billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa.

Rose will be Asda’s first dedicated chair since the departure of Archie Norman who oversaw the sale of the supermarket to Walmart in 1999. Norman is now chair of M&S.

Rose, who was knighted in 2008 for services to the retail industry and was given a life peerage in 2014, said: “I am joining the board at a hugely exciting time, as Asda  builds on the incredible resilience it has demonstrated during the pandemic and embarks on the next chapter of its evolution and growth under new ownership.”

He said the priority was to appoint a new chief executive for Asda, after the exit of Roger Burnley in the summer, and he was excited at the prospect of working with the Issa brothers to build on Asda’s heritage of food, fashion and general merchandise.

Alison Carnwath, the former chair of property group Land Securities has also been made a non-executive director of Asda, joining the board next month.

Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who said they planned to appoint further non-executive directors, commented:  “We know [Rose and Carnwath’s] insight and experience will add huge value at Asda. We are committed to ensuring this iconic business has the right governance and management framework in place to set it up for long-term success.”