Asda has announced the appointment of former Amazon finance vice president Rob McWilliam as its new chief financial officer.
McWilliam, who worked for Asda for 15 years before leaving in 2012 to pursue roles at Amazon, Jisc and YPO, will return to the retailer at the end of July.
He will succeed former Tesco and Boots director Alex Russo, who has worked at Asda since December 2013 and will leave at the end of July to become chief financial officer at Wilko.
“During his four and a half years in role at Asda, Alex has played a key leadership role in steering the business in a challenging market and continued to develop the role and influence of the finance team,” Walmart’s chief financial officer Richard Mayfield and Asda chief executive Roger Burnley said in a note to colleagues.
“He has also helped to make the difficult choices to support the improving performance we have seen over the last two years.
“Alex has been discussing his desire to seek a new challenge for more than a year and we’re delighted that he has found the right business opportunity that he has been looking for.
“In the light of Alex’s move, we’ve been looking for a CFO who combines a deep knowledge of UK grocery retail, knowledge of Asda and Walmart relationships, and the skills to support the work we have to do to successfully complete our combination with Sainsbury’s.
“With that in mind, after four years with Amazon UK, leading finance and consumables, followed by 18 months in a variety of non-executive roles, we’re pleased to announce that Rob McWilliam will be re-joining Asda as chief financial officer.”
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