The East of England Co-op has appointed Andy Rigby as Acting Chief Executive. He will take over the role for a minimum of 12 months from Doug Field, who has announced he is leaving the organisation after 16 years, the last two of which were as CEO.
Rigby joined the East of England Co-op in early 2022 as Chief Operations Officer and has over 40 years of leadership experience in senior executive roles across a range of formats and countries.
Joy Burnford, President of the East of England Co-op, commented: “Andy has proven himself to be a force for good in many ways for our Society in the time he has been with us; we welcome his appointment as we continue on our journey together to make a bigger difference in our communities and return to sustainable profit.”
Under Field’s leadership, the business had started to recover from two years of financial losses and is now on a trajectory towards profitability.
The East of England Co-op operates over 120 food stores across Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire. A refurbishment programme this year has included upgrades to the sustainability and food-to-go offering of its stores.
