Shirine Khoury-Haq has been appointed permanent CEO of the Co-op Group, after serving on an interim basis since the resignation of Steve Murrells in May.
Before stepping up to the role, she was working at the Group as its group chief financial officer and CEO of Co-op Life Services. She previously held senior roles at Lloyd’s, Catlin and IBM.
In a message to the co-op’s members, chair Allan Leighton said: “I’m delighted to announce that Shirine Khoury-Haq will lead our Co-op as Group chief executive on a permanent basis.
“We continue to face considerably challenging times, as individuals and as a co-op. As these conditions continue, now more than ever, we need to live by our purpose and champion a better way of doing business, while continuing to deliver on our vision, co-operating for a fairer world.
“Shirine’s proven leadership qualities and transformational experience, combined with her deep understanding of, and passion for, our co-op values, will steer us towards a commercially successful and sustainable co-op that can continue to create value. Our members, colleagues and communities are depending on us to do this.”
Leighton added that in her time as interim CEO, Khoury-Haq has worked with her senior team to take “significant steps to ensure that our Co-op is focusing efforts on the right areas, in the right ways”.
He said there would be more details released on this with the Group’s half-year results next month.
“I know you’ll all join me in congratulating Shirine on her permanent appointment,” he said, “and you’ll be hearing more from her directly very soon.
“On behalf of my fellow Co-op board members, we look forward to continuing working closely with Shirine.”
