UK | Morrisons has further strengthened its senior leadership team with three new hires, the formal appointment of Martin Dawson as Group Retail Director, and the promotion of Charlotte Exell to Online Director.
Matt Heslop has been appointed Director of Convenience and Wholesale, starting in early March 2025. He has been at Lidl for over 20 years in various roles, most recently as Chief Operating Officer and Board Member of Lidl UK. He has deep experience in food retail and a long record of delivering growth, innovation, and excellence for the customer.
Matt McLellan has been appointed to the Group Data and Media Director role and will join Morrisons later this year. He joined Morrisons from Asda, where he was Vice President - Customer.
At Asda, he was responsible for designing and launching their loyalty proposition and developing a wide range of high-profile customer programmes and initiatives.
Bruno Lebon has been appointed as Group Trading Director, Non-Food, working closely with Andrew Staniland, who started as Morrisons Group Trading Director in early February.
Lebon is one of Europe's most experienced supermarket retailers, with over 39 years of experience at Carrefour, most recently as Executive Director of Supermarkets and Hypermarkets.
All three new hires will report directly to CEO Rami Baitiéh.
Separately, Martin Dawson, appointed interim Operations Director - Retail in February last year, has formally been appointed as Group Retail Director and a member of the Executive Committee.
Charlotte Exell, the Online Operations Director, has been promoted to take on full responsibility for the Morrisons Online offer in the newly created role of Online Director.
These appointments came as Morrisons recently announced that Group LFL sales were up 4.9 percent for Q4 and 4.1 percent for the year, representing eight consecutive quarters of positive LFL sales.
The fourth quarter was the most substantial LFL sales improvement for almost four years, and the number of More Card-linked sales has now reached 76 percent.
“I’m very pleased to welcome three outstanding retailers to the Morrisons leadership team and to warmly welcome Rachel back from her maternity leave. All the new joiners have exceptional records in their fields and bring deep experience, a history of delivering growth and a clear customer focus. As Morrisons continues its re-invigoration and growth, their skills and their passion for the customer will make them a powerful addition to our team,” said Rami Baitiéh, Morrisons CEO.
“Martin Dawson has made a significant impact in his new role over the last year, and I am delighted to confirm him in the key role of Group Retail Director. And Charlotte Exell has played a vital part in the recent growth of our online business, and I’m confident that under her leadership, Morrisons will go from strength to strength.”
