Sales are recovering after the chain struggled in the face of competition from rivals such as Aldi and Lidl Eddie Keogh/ReutersA veteran of the grocery industry has been handed the task of continuing the turnaround at Asda. Roger Burnley, 51, a former executive at J Sainsbury who returned to Asda a year ago as chief operating officer, will become the company’s chief executive at the start of January. He will replace Sean Clarke, who has helped to steady trading since being parachuted in from Walmart China in July last year to confront the grocer’s worst performance on record. Retail experts expressed surprise yesterday at the timing of the succession, but not in the choice of Mr Burnley, who had been seen as the heir apparent. The appointment comes a day before Hallowe’en, a big date in the supermarket calendar, ahead of Black Friday, the increasingly…

Source: The Times October 31, 2017 00:00 UTC