People first: Vice President & Commercial Director - Food Paul Gillow leaves Asda House for the last time

Paul Gillow has departed Asda, where he has spent the last 20 years, most recently serving as Vice President & Commercial Director - Food.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: “Today (Friday, 12th July) I leave Asda House for the last time.”

“I’ve had an incredible 20 years working for what is a fabulous company and with countless brilliant colleagues and suppliers….having had so many amazing opportunities and experiences along the way.”

“I’m extremely grateful for that and for the many friends I’ve been so fortunate to meet in and through Asda.”

He added: “I’ve decided it’s time to go and try something new, but first for a little break and some time away. It’s difficult to summarise two decades….but if there’s one thing I’ve learned above all else over that time….it’s always, always about the people. Catch up with you soon.”

Store Assist

Asda has completed the roll-out of its new online groceries picking solution, Store Assist, across its estate.

Kevin Besford, Senior Director - Retail Future, Asda, said: “This achievement reflects brilliant collaboration across the Retail, Tech, E-commerce and the Online Store Assist teams.”

“Thank you for your dedication and hard work! Their expertise has been instrumental as we continue to shape our brand new Asda digital landscape.”

He added: “I want to express my sincere thanks to all our store colleagues who worked tirelessly during this period of change, serving our customers with unwavering commitment. Thanks to everyone involved in the Asda Store Assist programme, a massive cross-functional effort covering 534 stores.”

Besford noted the following key achievements:

534 business readiness visits

30 retail engagement sessions

Over 10,000 devices updated

21 individual deployments, peaking at 125 stores per week

Over 26,000 colleagues newly trained

Store mapping accuracy of 99.4%