Tesco has appointed Deliveroo global head of strategy Francesca Jones to lead its Whoosh rapid grocery delivery business.

Announcing her new role via LinkedIn today (15 January), Jones said: “I am thrilled to announce that I have joined Tesco as the head of Whoosh. A huge thank you to the Tesco team for the warm welcome during my first few weeks – just in time for a record-breaking Tesco Christmas.”

“I am incredibly excited about the opportunities ahead and the talented team I will be working with,” she added.

Prior to joining the supermarket giant, Jones spent six years at discount grocer Aldi as an area manager, before moving to Deliveroo in 2022.

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During her time at the rapid delivery firm, Jones held various roles, including global training and operational excellence manager for Deliveroo Hop, before her most recent position as global head of strategy for site operations.

She said in a separate LinkedIn post: “After almost three years, my time at Deliveroo has come to an end. It has been a wild ride (if you’ll pardon the pun) during which I learned a huge amount and grew immeasurably.”

Her appointment comes as Tesco recorded its “biggest Christmas ever” as festive sales shot up by 3.8% over the six weeks to 4 January 2025.

However, online sales led the supermarket’s growth, up 10.8%, while over 2.1 million Tesco Whoosh orders were placed across the Christmas period.