Ocado hires Atos executive to deliver partnerships boost

Ocado Group, the online grocery technology provider, is embarking on a strategic shake-up which includes the appointment of its first chief revenue officer as it tries to revive its flagging stock market valuation.

Sky News has learnt that the London-listed operator of automated retail goods warehouses will announce on Wednesday that it has recruited Nick de la Vega to the new post, with a brief to drive global sales across food and non-grocery retailers.

Mr de la Vega will join Ocado Group from Atos, the specialist in digital transformation, where he was global head of sales.

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He will report to Tim Steiner, the Ocado co-founder and chief executive.

Ocado Group employees were notified about his appointment on Tuesday afternoon.

His mandate will be to build new partnerships and maintain existing ones, as well as leading Ocado's global technology sales efforts in new areas such as pharmaceuticals and apparel, into which it has expanded in recent years.

The company said in July that its exclusivity arrangements with a number of customers would "roll off in the majority of markets where Ocado's technology is already live", although it does not specify which partners it was referring to.

In the UK, it serves multiple customers, including Marks & Spencer - through Ocado Retail - and Morrisons.

Ocado's grocery partners include Aeon in Japan, Alcampo in Spain, the Australian chain Coles, and Lotte in South Korea

Its non-grocery partners include McKesson in Canada.

Shares in Ocado Group slumped last month when Kroger, its key US-based retail partner, said it would take a "hard look" at future automated warehouse investments.

The statement wiped roughly £500m off Ocado's value in a single day.

Shares in Ocado Group closed on Tuesday at 234.4p, giving the company a market capitalisation of just under £2bn.

The stock has fallen by nearly 40% in the last year.

Ocado Group declined to comment.

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