Another struggling Asda boss is ousted
After just 457 days in the job and a sales slump...
ASDA has ousted its latest chief executive as it fights to win back sales from rival supermarkets.
The chain is parting ways with Sean Clarke, who will leave at the end of the year – just 18 months after taking on the top post.
his departure comes just weeks after Asda reported its first quarterly sales growth in three years. however, the store’s market share is still down under his leadership.
The move will make room for roger Burnley, who joined Asda a year ago from rival Sainsbury’s.
Burnley, who is deputy chief executive, will take the role of Asda’s president and chief executive at the beginning of next year.
The 50-year-old is familiar with Asda, having worked for the supermarket between 1996 to 2002 before returning as deputy chief executive last year.
david Cheesewright, chief executive of US giant Walmart International, which owns Asda, said: ‘roger was purposefully brought back to Asda to partner with Sean ahead of the transition to roger taking up the position of chief executive. he and Sean have worked as a great team and I’m really confident in roger’s ability to continue building upon our returning momentum.’
despite a recent improvement in business, Clarke oversaw Asda’s worst sales fall in its 68-year history last February, after they slumped 5.8pc in the three months to the end of december.
Former chief executive Andy Clarke was ousted that June after six-years at the helm – his tenure marked by one calamity after another. Sean Clarke, who was appointed chief executive in July 2016, had previously been head of Walmart China and chief financial officer of Walmart Japan and Germany. retail analyst richard hyman said Sean Clarke’s lack of experience in the UK retail sector is likely to have contributed to his early departure, adding: ‘The industry is hard enough if you have experience of the UK market, but even tougher when your experience is largely overseas.’ Burnley is tasked with increasing Asda’s market share and winning customers from the big four retailers. While Walmart’s US business is soaring, it has been accused of neglecting its UK arm.
Asda has fallen behind Sainsbury’s to third place in the list of biggest grocers.
John Mercer, senior analyst at Fung Global retail, said: ‘Burnley must find a way to pull shoppers back — not so much from Aldi and Lidl, but from the resurgent Tesco and Morrisons.
‘It will be a tough job. In a market that has been focused on lowering prices, Asda has had fewer levers to pull, given it has long been the lowest priced of the big four grocery retailers.
‘Alongside competitive pricing, improvements to in-store service, product availability and ownbrand quality are levers at Asda’s disposal, as long as its parent company is willing to invest margin to support growth.
‘The challenge for Burnley is that its biggest competitors are already doing these things.’