Asda kicks off hunt for new chief operating officer

Asda has kicked off the hunt for a chief operating officer to bolster its board and eventually succeed chief executive Andy Clarke. The UK grocer said it had begun the search after Mark Ibbotson, retail director, who was also responsible for IT and distribution, moved to US parent Walmart to become senior vice-president for innovation.

While strengthening Asda's management team, the retailer said the chief operating officer would also be a candidate to potentially succeed Andy Clarke, who became chief executive five years ago.

Mr Clarke is the longest serving head of one of the so-called big four grocers after senior departures at the helm of Tesco, J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison, Asda's three listed rivals, over the past year.

Asda played down any imminent change at the top, with one person familiar with the search saying that the retailer had a three-year timeframe in mind for Mr Clarke's succession. The person added that it was possible Mr Clarke could then move up to running Walmart's European cluster of businesses, which includes the UK and South Africa.

"We are definitely talking years rather than weeks," said an Asda spokesman, adding that there would also be other internal candidates when the time came.

Asda was looking for an executive with operational experience, the person familiar with the search added, with a particular emphasis on running stores.

The supermarket, which vies with J Sainsbury to be Britain's second biggest, has not had a chief operating officer since Judith McKenna vacated the role to move to parent Walmart two years ago. Ms McKenna is now chief operating officer for Walmart US, responsible for its more than 4,000 retail stores.

The search comes at a delicate time for Asda. It had been one of the best-performing of the big four supermarket chains, after it took the decision to cut prices, in an effort to stem the rise of the no-frills discounters Aldi and Lidl, and cut back on promotions. It has been scathing on the vouchers issued by rival supermarkets, describing them as the grocery equivalent of quantitative easing.

However, over the past six months, Asda has fallen back into the pack, despite continued efforts on price. Kantar Worldpanel, the consumer research group, said this week that Asda's sales fell by 1.1 per cent in the 12 weeks to March 29, the worst-performing of the big four supermarkets.

However, Asda enjoyed a resurgence over the past four weeks, with its sales rising by 0.3 per cent, second only to J Sainsbury's 2.9 per cent increase.

"I sense that Asda is genuinely perplexed by its under-performance . . . because it has cut prices, made its offer more simple, cut promotions and generally delivered good store standards," said Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital.

He said Asda could be affected by the resurgence of Tesco, together with its focus on its northern heartland, as well as the loss of executives to its US parent.

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