Supermarket reveals new chief executive

Current CEO has only been in post for 15 months

Supermarket chain Asda has revealed Roger Burnley will take the helm as president and chief executive in the new year.

Mr Burnley, the Big Four grocer’s chief operating officer and deputy CEO, will take up the role on January 1.

He will succeed Sean Clarke, who will step down by the end of December.

Mr Clarke has held the reins for just over a year, having been appointed in July last year.

But Asda said it had a long-standing plan for Mr Burnley to take over as the grocer’s boss after rejoining the company in October last year.

Dave Cheesewright, chief executive of Asda owner Walmart International, said: “Roger was purposefully brought back to Asda to partner with Sean ahead of the transition to Roger taking up the position of CEO.

“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.”

Mr Burnley joined Asda from rival Sainsbury’s last year, where he was retail and operations director.

He had previously worked at Asda as supply chain director between 1996 and 2002.

Mr Clarke is expected to “remain engaged” with Walmart after stepping down and “taking some time out”, the Walmart International executive said.

The management change comes during a choppy period for Asda, as it pushes through a turnaround plan in an attempt to shore up falling sales amid a long-running supermarket price war.

Asda announced in September that it had axed nearly 300 jobs at its head office as part of a major cost-cutting drive – more than one in 10 of its 2,500 head office roles.