Co-op is set for a significant leadership transition after three of its most senior food and commercial executives announced their departures in quick succession, marking the end of an era for the convenience retailer and wholesaler.
Co-op Food managing director Matt Hood today (June 26) announced that he is stepping down after 13 years with the business, becoming the third senior executive to reveal his departure in two days.
Hood, one of the most recognisable figures in UK convenience retail, said he will remain with Co-op until October to support the handover before pursuing a new opportunity, which he is yet to disclose.
His announcement follows the departures of Tom Bradley, managing director of Co-op Wholesale and Group Commercial, who is joining Deliveroo as commercial director later this year, and Nicole Tallant, who is leaving to join Specsavers in September after overseeing Co-op's commercial and own-brand operations.
In a heartfelt LinkedIn post, Hood said his decision was motivated by a desire for a fresh challenge rather than dissatisfaction with the business.
"After 13 years, I'm moving on from Co-op," he wrote. "That sentence has taken me a while to write. Thirteen years is a long time in any career, and this one has been the best chapter of mine."
Having joined Co-op in a commercial role before eventually leading its food business, Hood said he had "grown up" professionally during his time with the retailer.
"I'm not leaving because of any one thing," he said. "I've simply reached a point where I want to build something new while I've got the energy and appetite to do it properly."
He added that walking away from a business he enjoyed had been far harder than leaving one that was struggling.
"When something has been genuinely good, walking away from it takes more conviction than walking away from something broken. But the want to keep learning and stretch myself somewhere new became impossible to ignore."
Although he has not yet revealed his next move, Hood said he would remain focused on supporting colleagues over the coming months.
Hood's departure comes shortly after Tom Bradley announced on June 25 that he would leave Co-op later this summer following almost six years with the business.
Reflecting on his tenure, Bradley highlighted the transformation of the retailer, including reducing net debt, relaunching the Co-op Membership proposition, accelerating growth across wholesale and online channels, developing strategic partnerships and establishing the Group Commercial & Logistics function.
He also pointed to the challenges the business had navigated, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, soaring inflation, ongoing geopolitical disruption and the recovery from a major cyber incident.
Bradley will join Deliveroo as Commercial Director later this autumn.
Meanwhile, Tallant also confirmed she is leaving Co-op after joining the retailer on the same day it announced its acquisition of Nisa in 2018.
Describing Co-op as "a business with goodness in its bones", she said she was proud of what had been achieved with the commercial and own-brand teams and thanked colleagues for their support throughout her time at the business.
She will join Specsavers in September.
The three departures represent one of the biggest changes to Co-op's senior food leadership team in recent years. Collectively, Hood, Bradley and Nicole have played central roles in shaping the retailer's convenience strategy, integrating the Nisa wholesale business, expanding Co-op's own-brand offer, strengthening supplier partnerships and steering the organisation through some of the industry's most challenging trading conditions.