Morrisons has appointed former Sainsbury’s Future Brands boss Rachel Eyre as its new chief customer and marketing officer.
She will take over the role from Andy Atkinson, who was promoted to become group commercial director earlier this year, when she joins the retailer in early 2021.
Eyre’s role will cover customer insight and marketing communications including advertising, in-store and targeted marketing. She will also oversee the local solutions, customer services and PR teams.
She will report to Morrisons CEO David Potts and will also sit on the Morrisons executive committee.
Eyre has spent the past five years with Sainsbury’s, where most recently she led group marketing communications across Sainsbury’s, Argos and Tu.
Prior to that she launched Future Brands, a venture arm of Sainsbury’s commercial team, which saw the supermarket invest in and support more small suppliers through a hothousing scheme to help differentiate its offer.
Eyre was tasked with finding “distinctive brands”, with the potential offer of listings, mentoring, free Nectar data and even equity stakes in return for exclusivity deals of up to 18 months.
She spent the early part of her career with Barclays, where she worked across brand, marketing and communications in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Potts said: “Rachel’s appointment is important for Morrisons as we continue to listen carefully to our customers and further improve the shopping trip. Rachel has an outstanding record and I am really pleased to be welcoming her into the business. Her appointment represents another step in our plan to develop the next generation of retail talent at Morrisons.”
SOURCE: Ian Quinn
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