A former top Aldi Süd executive, Roman Heini, has joined the senior management team at Lidl, according to reports.
News portal Stimme.de has reported that the appointment of Heini, who will join Lidl in October, has been hailed as a 'valuable addition' to the team by chief executive Jesper Højer.
The appointment is likely to rankle senior management at Aldi, with Heini a long-standing lieutenant at Aldi Süd, holding a variety of roles over an 18-year spell with the discounter.
Senior Roles
Heini was one of the driving forces behind Aldi Süd's modernisation programme at the start of the decade, including its rapid roll-out in the UK and Ireland, as well as Switzerland.
He jointly ran the UK operation from 2010 to 2014, alongside Matthew Barnes, before returning to Germany to become chairman of Aldi Süd's advisory board.
In March 2017, however, Heini left the company 'with immediate effect', with his responsibilities passing on to other members of the Aldi management board.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
