(7 May) Former retail director at Tesco UK, Peter Ridler (pictured), has been appointed as managing director of Musgrave Retail Partners GB, following the recent departure of Donal Horgan from the role.
Ridler, who assumed his new role yesterday, is not short of experience in international retail, having held the position of managing director at Staples in the UK, The Body Shop in both the UK and North America and Centrofashion, a Russian shoe retailer. He is also a former chief executive of Tesco's Polish operation.
Horgan's departure, which was confirmed on 24 April, came ahead of the release of Musgrave's group results for FY 2013 this coming Friday, which are likely to indicate a deterioration in its performance in the UK, where it trades under the Budgens and Londis fascias.
In February, the group confirmed that sales at its Londis business "weren't as we would have hoped them to be" last year, and it is believed that the move by mainstream grocers such as Tesco and Sainsbury's into the convenience market has impacted the business.
Last week, The Grocer magazine in the UK quoted Londis retailers as saying that Musgrave's wholesale prices were "too high" and that they felt Londis was "falling behind" its competition.
Horgan was appointed managing director of Musgrave's UK operations in 2010, replacing Phil Smith. He first joined Musgrave Group in 1997 as finance and logistics director, and was appointed managing director of SuperValu and Centra in 2004.
"We would like to thank Donal for his contribution to the Musgrave Group over the past 17 years," Musgrave said in a statement. "We look forward to working with Peter and to welcoming him to the Musgrave Group."
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
