UK grocer Asda has announced that it has poached Roger Burnley from rival supermarket Sainsbury's to be its new chief operating officer.
Sky News reports that Burnley, the former Sainsbury's retail and operations director, will become a chief candidate to take over Andy Clarke as chief executive of Asda when the latter steps down.
Asda, part of the US retail giant Walmart, recently announced its worst-ever quarterly results, as sales fell by 4.7 per cent between April and June.
More than 12 months into a five-year plan to cut prices by £1 billion ($1.6 billion), Asda has been unable to stem a decline in sales that is being fuelled by the growth of the discounters.
Burnley's departure comes as a blow to Sainsbury's and its chief executive, Mike Coupe, who is attempting to steady the ship amid a UK supermarket price war and ongoing pressure from Aldi and Lidl.
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