Britain’s Asda names Stuart Rose as new chairman

LONDON (Reuters) -British supermarket group Asda has appointed Stuart Rose, the former boss of Marks & Spencer, as its new chairman, tasking him with leading the board’s recruitment of a new chief executive, it said on Tuesday.

Rose, 72, also a former chairman of online supermarket Ocado, will take up the chairman role at Asda on Dec. 1, the group said.

Asda, Britain’s third largest grocer after market leader Tesco and Sainsbury’s, is owned by Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity group TDR Capital.

The brothers and TDR also own petrol forecourt business EG Group, which is also chaired by Rose.

Asda has been without a CEO since Roger Burnley abruptly left the group in August.

“The process to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer for Asda, who has the vision to take this great business forward over the coming years, is a priority for the Board and we will be supporting the shareholders in this process,” Rose said.

Asda also named Alison Carnwath, a former chair of Land Securities, as a non-executive director, effective Dec. 1. She also sits on the EG board.

(Reporting by James Davey Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Potter)