Ocado Retail CCO to depart after less than two years
Fitch Ratings assigned a B- rating to Ocado’s recent bond issue, citing ‘high execution risk’ and ongoing ‘liquidity erosion’ from capital expenditures
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Ocado Retail chief commercial officer Amit Chitnis is set to depart the company having joined in December 2023.
The company’s director of commercial development George Dean has been named as the company’s interim CCO to ensure a seamless transition.
Chitnis joined Ocado from Tesco where he spent a decade in various roles across the company, most recently serving as UK grocery director.
He started at Tesco as head of group strategy in 2014, before going on to lead retail operations at Tesco’s west London convenience stores. He was then named as director of trading of Tesco subsidiary Booker Wholesale in 202 before leaving for Ocado.
It comes after Ocado’s turnaround plans were called into question as its heavy reliance on debt in a high inflationary environment threatened its ability to turn a profit.
The online grocer saw its annual debt interest bill climb from around £27m last year to nearly £100m in 2025 following a recent £300m bond refinancing at an 11% coupon rate. This extended its debt maturity but came at a much higher cost compared with previous bonds yielding below 4%.
Ocado also recently signed a deal with supermarket chain Bon Preu to open a new customer fulfilment centre in Parets del Vallès, Catalonia.
The automated site will serve online grocery orders across the region and marks the latest phase in the two companies’ long-standing partnership.
Bon Preu was Ocado’s first international client, having signed a deal in 2017 to develop its online grocery operation using the British firm’s fulfilment technology. The Spanish retailer went live with Ocado’s in-store fulfilment system in 2018 and has since expanded rapidly, becoming the “leading” online grocery provider in Catalonia by customer satisfaction, according to consumer group OCU.
