Ex-Asda bosses take on business and government roles
TWO ex-Asda bosses are moving on the bigger things in government and business.
Former Asda boss Tony DeNunzio, who was in charge of the supermarket chain as CEO and president from 2002 to 2005, has been made chairman of a major merged forecourts business.
Forecourts operator Euro Garages is merging with continental peer European Forecourt Retail Group, as it looks to expand on its convenience offering.
£815m-turnover Euro Garages has 338 sites whilst EFR has 1,100 and both are backed by private equity group TDR.
Mr DeNunzio was with Asda for 12 years after which he was made deputy chairman of MFI Retail and non-executive chairman of Maxeda in 2005.
In March 2010 he was appointed non-executive chairman of Pets at Home and he has been a director at both PepsiCo and L’Oréal. He was awarded a CBE for services to retail in 2005.
Retail veteran Archie Norman, the only person to have been a FTSE 100 chairman and a member of the House of Commons when he became MP for Tunbridge Wells in 1997 at the same time as holding the Asda CEO role.
Mr Norman was chief executive and then chairman of the Leeds-based supermarket chain Asda between 1991 and 1999, and was credited with turning the struggling retailer round before its sale to current owners Walmart at the end of his tenure.
He is currently the chairman of ITV and was announced as an advisor to Homebase for its turnaround earlier this year.
Mr Norman has now been appointed as lead non-executive director at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and will take up his post later this month. He will work with the department to come up with a long-term strategy for the UK’s “industrial and commercial future.”
Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark said: “I’m delighted to welcome Archie Norman to this position. His wide and admired business experience will be of huge value to me and the government as we forge our industrial strategy.”
Mr Norman said: “I’m delighted the Business and Energy Secretary has asked me to take up this position and I will do all I can to support Greg Clark and the government at this important time for the British economy.”
