Ocado Group chair Rick Haythornthwaite is to step down from the board next year due to his “increasing commitment” at NatWest Group.
Haythornthwaite said he will not seek re-election at the grocery tech firm’s annual general meeting in April 2025 and has asked the board to initiate the process of appointing his successor.
He said in a statement: “Since the announcement of my appointment as group chair of NatWest I have given extensive thought to my workload … it has become evident that pressure on my time is likely to increase over the medium term.
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Haythornthwaite, who joined as Ocado as chair in 2021, will join NatWest this month as the banking group looks to contain the fallout from a dispute with former UKIP leader Nigel Farage.
Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said: “Needless to say, we will be disappointed to lose Rick but we fully understand the reasons why he is stepping down as chair to focus on his new role at NatWest.
“Rick has done a great job strengthening corporate governance, providing the executive team with wise advice and, together with a renewed and refocused board, helping us grow the business over the last three years.”
Ocado Retail revealed last month its first quarter sales had jumped 10.6% thanks to an uptick in customer numbers as it continues its investment into strengthening its product offering.
It comes amid reports of tensons between Ocado and M&S, which is reported to be withholding a multi-million-pound payment to Ocado after its grocery delivery tie-up failed to meet key performance targets.
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