FirstGroup’s Carr moves over to Ahold
DUTCH supermarket group Ahold yesterday appointed Jeff Carr as its new chief financial officer, picking an executive with experience at Unilever, Associated British Foods and easyJet.
Carr, 49, is currently a board member at transport company FirstGroup and personal care products group McBride. Both firms said that he will be standing down, and FirstGroup said a search for Carr’s replacement will start immediately.
Ahold had been looking for a replacement for the current finance chief, Kimberly Ross, for a few months. Ross is leaving Ahold in November to become CFO at US-based women’s cosmetics seller Avon.
Carr will formally join Ahold pending shareholder approval at the next annual meeting April.
Alongside his new duties, Ahold said Carr will also manage the company’s existing €350m (£304.8m) cost-reduction programme and explore further ways to reduce costs.
He started his career at Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever.
Before he joined FirstGroup, Carr had been group finance director and board member at easyJet, and held senior financial roles at Associated British Foods, Reckitt Benckiser and Grand Metropolitan.
Nick Chevis, who has been with FirstGroup since 1997, will become acting finance director until a permanent replacement can be found.