McColls CCO to depart to head up Sainsbury’s grocery arm

McColl’s Retail Group has announced that Richard Crampton has informed the board of his decision to resign as chief commercial officer to take up the role of director of Fresh Food and Food Services at J Sainsbury plc.

Accordingly, McColls said Crampton has stepped down from the board with “immediate effect”, and the company has agreed to release him from his contractual notice obligation on 18 February 2022, after an “orderly handover”.

It added Karen Bird, chief operating officer will assume responsibility for commercial alongside her existing duties. The role of CCO will not be replaced.

McColl’s said Bird has “extensive experience” in convenience and food retail. Prior to joining McColl’s, she spent over 25 years with Tesco, including leading “significant change programmes”. She takes over a commercial team that was recently strengthened with the addition of Paul Cunningham, commercial director, who joined from Co-operative Group, and Rob George, customer director, who joined from J Sainsbury plc.

Jonathan Miller, chief executive, said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Richard for the valuable contribution he has made to the business over the past two years, and to wish him every success in his future role.

“I am delighted that Karen will now be incorporating commercial into the role of COO. Karen has made a significant contribution to the business since joining in 2016 and has been instrumental in leading the Morrisons Daily rollout. With these changes I am confident that we have a strong team in place to implement our strategy, and that the rollout of Morrisons Daily will deliver long-term sustainable growth.”