Nisa boss Towle moves to head Asda’s retail team

Towle will have responsibility for all Asda’s stores after running Nisa since 2018. He joins Asda later this year.

Towle’s appointment is part of a wider leadership shake-up at Asda after its £6.8bn takeover by the Issa brothers and private equity firm TDR Capital.

Derek Lawlor, who has led Asda’s commercial team since 2019, is leaving, while Kris Comerford joins Asda as chief commercial officer from Tesco.

Simon Gregg, who currently heads Asda’s online operation, will also join the executive leadership team.

In a statement, the Issa brothers said: “The appointment of Ken Towle, Kris Comerford and Simon Gregg to our leadership team will bring a great combination of experience and new thinking to our table.

“Ken’s considerable expertise as a retail and wholesale CEO with many years’ experience in some of the largest and most complex businesses, both in the UK and internationally, make him the right person to lead our retail operations team.”