Morrisons owner appoints ex-Tesco CEO Dave Lewis as operating advisor

Morrisons owner Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD&R) has today (15 January) announced the appointment of Sir Dave Lewis as an operating advisor to CD&R funds. 

Lewis will draw on his more than 30 years of leadership experience within the global consumer goods and retail sectors to support the firm in identifying and evaluating new investment opportunities, as well as supporting its portfolio companies across Europe. 

He is currently the chair of the consumer health company Haleon, guiding its spinoff from GSK, and also sits on the board of food and snack multinational PepsiCo. 

In addition, he co-chaired the consumer, retail and life sciences business council, which was established to advise the UK Prime Minister, and for three months in 2021, he volunteered to help the UK Government work through the supply chain challenges the country was facing at the time. 

Prior to this, he spent the majority of his career at consumer goods giant Unilever, beginning as a graduate trainee and rising to join the global executive team, first as president Americas and then as global president for personal care. An international executive, he spent 28 years with the company.

From 2014 to 2020 he was the chief executive officer of Tesco where he led the recovery of its market position. In addition to substantial operational performance improvement, significant corporate repositioning took place including the divestments of businesses in Korea and Thailand. 

Lewis was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List in recognition of his contribution to business and the food industry in the United Kingdom. 

Dave Novak, CD&R co-president said: “Dave is an exceptional executive and highly respected leader. His reputation for innovation, value creation and growth is outstanding. I believe his knowledge and experience, built up over three decades, will be of great value to CD&R funds as we consider new investments and continue to build stronger, more sustainable businesses across Europe.”

CD&R partner Marco Herbst added: “Dave shares our belief in the European consumer. The depth of his operational expertise, combined with the firm’s experience in working collaboratively with management teams and families to build successful businesses will, I believe, be transformative for many of the companies we invest in and grow. We are delighted to welcome him as an operating advisor to CD&R funds and to work with him in the years to come.” 

Regarding his appointment Lewis said: “I believe the depth of CD&R’s operating and investment expertise across the consumer goods, retail, and other sectors in Europe to be incredibly strong. 

“I look forward to working with CD&R’s investment and operating teams, as well as the management teams of the firm’s portfolio companies to identify investment opportunities, support strong performance and create durable businesses fit for the future.”