Having started his career as a Store Manager for WM Morrison, retail has always been in Andy’s blood. He moved to ASDA in 1992 and held numerous roles in an eight-year spell, including Retail Director.

Andy took up the role of Chief Operations Officer at Matalan in 2000, helping drive revenue of £1.2m and net income of £240m across 300 stores with 18k employees and he also became a main board director.

He then went on to work with organisations such as McKinsey & Partners and ABNAmro as a freelance consultant before becoming Managing Director of Iceland in 2003. During three years in the role Andy recorded revenue of £1bn and net income of £150m with 25k employees across 800 stores, and he also oversaw the transition from frozen food retailer to convenience stores and led the eventual sale to Bauger.

Returning to ASDA in 2005 as Retail Director, Andy was quickly on a path to the top and stepped up from Chief Operating Officer to become President and CEO in 2010. Under Andy’s leadership he took ASDA to No. 2 in the UK grocery market after 15 years in third spot and helped George clothing become the biggest volume clothing brand in the UK together with launching the George homewares business, which grew to No. 3 by volume in the UK.

He stepped down as CEO in July 2016.

Andy’s knowledge and experience was invaluable as he served on the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group during David Cameron’s tenure, and today he is a revered public speaker and board member at a number of forward-thinking and ambitious companies.

Get in touch with Andy today to enquire about public speaking opportunities and see how Blackthorn Consulting can help your business.