Asda CEO Roger Burnley has stepped down

Leeds-headquartered supermarket chain, Asda, has confirmed today that its chief executive, Roger Burnley, has stepped down.

The business had said in March that he would not be leaving until next year.

In February, Blackburn-based brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity group TDR Capital completed their purchase of a majority holding in Asda from US giant Walmart, in a deal giving it an enterprise value of £6.8bn.

They said Burnley would leave the group next year after it has transitioned fully to new ownership and once his long-term successor was in place.

However, Burnley has now left the business.

In a statement today, the Issa brothers and TDR said: “We have mutually agreed with Roger that now is the right time for him to step down from the business following a transition period under our ownership.

“We would like to thank Roger for his leadership and contribution during his time with the business, particularly during the last year.

“We have a great team of more than 140,000 colleagues at Asda, and we look forward to supporting all of them to deliver for our customers in the second half of the year.”

Asda says a process to recruit Burnley’s replacement is now underway

Burnley re-joined Asda in 2016 and had been CEO since 2018.