Marketing director quits role at Asda

ASDA has lost another key player following the departure of marketing director Jon Owen, just a week after the Leeds-based grocer made the surprise announcement that chief operating officer Simon King was leaving by “mutual consent”.
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Jun 2011, 10:16 BST

Mr Owen is leaving after only a year in the job to become director of Shop Direct Group’s flagship brand Very.

Mr Owen was a key player in Asda’s price guarantee scheme, which set the cat among the pigeons by offering shoppers money back if they could buy their goods more cheaply elsewhere.

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Mr Owen took over as Asda’s marketing director from Mark Sinnock, who only spent 15 months in the role. Asda is looking for a replacement for Mr Owen and is expected to announce Mr King’s successor shortly.

Mr King was only in the chief operating officer’s role for six months.

He was seen by many as the heir to chief executive Andy Clarke, who replaced Andy Bond.

Mr King, who previously ran Tesco’s operations in Turkey, became Mr Clarke’s number two at the beginning of this year.

Very was Shop Direct’s star performer over the past year according to Shop Direct chief executive Mark Newton-Jones.

The brand is aimed at 25 to 45-year-olds and focuses on celebrity fashion offers.

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