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Ocado CEO Tim Steiner to step down at start of fiscal 2028
Online grocery delivery company maps CEO succession after boardroom tussle
Key Takeaways:
- Ocado Group said July 6 that CEO Tim Steiner will step down at the start of its 2028 financial year after succession planning accelerated.
- Shares fell as much as 4.5% July 6, extending a nearly 25% 2026 drop amid concerns about Ocado’s fulfillment-center model.
- Steiner will remain involved in a founder role through 2029 as Ocado works to shift toward smaller store-based automation solutions.
Ocado Group CEO Tim Steiner will step down at the start of its 2028 financial year, following a boardroom tussle at the British online grocery delivery company mired in a stock slump.
The move to accelerate succession planning was driven by Chairman Adam Warby, though it triggered a backlash from some shareholders who wanted to keep Steiner, who co-founded the company, in place. Ocado said July 6 that Steiner has been working with the board on a succession process and that he would stay involved with the company in a “founder” role through 2029.
Shares of Ocado fell as much as 4.5% in London on July 6, extending a drop of almost 25% so far this year.
Steiner has in the past pitched Ocado as the “Tesla of grocery,” but its shares have tumbled more than 90% since their peak in the pandemic, as the shift in COVID-era shopping habits proved temporary and the company struggled to convince investors about the viability of its robot technology.
Once one of the U.K.’s great technology hopes, Ocado has been cutting jobs to reflect the growing trend among grocers to handle more online orders in-store rather than at fulfillment centers. Key customers including Kroger Co. and British supermarket Morrisons have pulled back in recent years.
Cincinnati-based Kroger ranks No. 31 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America.
RELATED: Ocado Ends Exclusivity Terms After Setbacks to Kroger Deal
That has led to calls for Ocado to pivot away from the original model of large and capital-intensive distribution centers. The company struck a deal in May to replace and upgrade British grocer Asda’s e-commerce infrastructure with its own online sales platform.
“This is difficult at this juncture in the business given the issues facing the large [customer fulfillment center] model and the need to pivot to smaller store-based automation solutions,” Bernstein analyst William Woods said in a note. “It will be challenging to replace the founder and driving visionary of the business.”
