Who is Hannah Gibson, the new boss of Ocado?

Just today online-only supermarket Ocado announced its new CEO.

Hannah Gibson, the former chief product officer for its technology division, has taken over the helm from Mel Smith, who announced she would step down in July.

As a result, Lawrence Hene, was announced as interim CEO. However, from 20 September, Gibson takes over from Smith to drive the company forward.

The news comes on the same day as Smith won the Veuve Clicquot’s 50th annual Bold Woman Award in recognition of her “outstanding” leadership over the last three years.

Prior to joining Ocado, which Gibson joined in June 2012, she was a senior policy advisor for No10 Downing Street.

She has also worked at Waitrose as a business development manager from May 2009 to July the same year. Gibson has also worked for The Boston Consulting Group from 2007 to 2010.

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Gibson also set the strategy and drives forward the Ocado Smart Platform for the group’s partners including Ocado Retail, the joint venture between Ocado and M&S.

Commenting on the appointment, Marks & Spencer CEO Stuart Machin said Gibson “combines a clear passion for product and customer, with an exceptional working knowledge of Ocado’s proprietary technology.

”This experience makes her the ideal candidate to unlock the huge potential that remains in our joint venture and lead our partnership into the next phase of growth,” he added.

“Ocado Retail has big ambitions and, with its foundations now firmly in place, is well-prepared for faster growth in the years to come,” Ocado chairman Tim Steiner said.

“I am confident that Hannah is the right leader to deliver on these ambitions, whilst also being able to navigate the nearer-term challenges associated with the macroeconomic environment.”

At Ocado Group, we have consistently benefited from her outstanding leadership and laser focus on the customer proposition and I have no doubt that this will continue.”

Gibson joined the company in 2012 starting off her Ocado journey at the grocer.

In 2017 she became head of product and merchandising at Ocado Retail, having held the position for nearly five years, before being appointed head of Ocado Zoom and channel development.

In this position, she was responsible for development, launch and ongoing running of Ocado Zoom, alongside other business development projects.

In August 2019, she became director of product management. In the peak of the pandemic, she was appointed chief product officer of Ocado Technology, a role she held for just under two years.

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