– UK, Hatfield – Ocado Group plc (LON: OCDO), the pioneer of online grocery, today announced the appointment of Rick Haythornthwaite to its Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director, effective on 1st January 2021, before to be elected as Board Chairman at the AGM in May 2021, replacing Stuart Rose, who will be retiring from the role after eight years of service.
Rick brings a wealth of relevant experience as chairman, non-executive director, and CEO of a wide range of companies.
“I am delighted to welcome Rick as our new Chairman. He has substantial experience of leading and chairing a range of high profile industrial and technology companies. He will play a key role helping us to navigate a post-COVID future in which the landscape of the grocery market worldwide is changing for good and, using his experience at Mastercard, to help us scale up and take advantage of the very significant global opportunities ahead.” said CEO, Tim Steiner.
Richard Haythornthwaite will be a member of the Board’s Nomination Committee and will chair this committee from 13 May 2021.
Lord Rose will remain Chairman of the Board to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities to Rick in May. Rick will be a member of the Nomination Committee and will chair that committee after Lord Rose’s retirement.
Lord Rose, Chairman of Ocado Group said: “It has been a privilege to be the Chairman of Ocado Group over the last eight years and to have helped steer the business to where it is today, a world-leading online grocer and solutions provider driving unprecedented change in the industry. The extraordinary creativity, problem-solving, resilience, and adaptability shown by the people of Ocado Group has been in evidence particularly through the COVID crisis and I know that these qualities will serve the business well in the years to come.”
About Rick Haythornthwaite
Richard Haythornthwaite is currently the chairman of Mastercard Inc., a role he has held for 14 years and will retire from at the end of this year. Richard is a non-executive director at the digital services company Globant S.A. as well as the chairman and founder of QiO Technologies Ltd and chairman of Xynteo, an ESG consultancy. Previously Richard held the position of chairman at Centrica plc and Network Rail Limited, CEO at Blue Circle Group plc and Invensys plc, and non-executive directorships at Land Securities Group plc, Imperial Chemical Industries plc, Lafarge SA and Cookson Group plc.
Rick is also the chairman and co-founder of QiO Technologies Ltd, an advanced analytics and AI software.
Rick Haythornthwaite said: “It will be an honour to work with Tim, the Board, and all the team, to build on the extraordinary progress of Ocado Group on its journey to become a global solutions provider to the grocery industry. As Stuart hands over the baton, I know that this is a business in great shape, well prepared for the velocity of growth ahead of it, and I look forward to playing my part in writing a new chapter in the remarkable story that is Ocado Group.”
Richard has an MA in Business Management from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MA in Geology from The Queen’s College, Oxford University.
For more information: https://www.ocado.com
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