Nisa names retail expert as its new chief executive

He will take over from Neil Turton next month when the 23-year Nisa veteran leaves to join a retail insight firm.

Mr Read is joining at a time of upheaval for Scunthorpe-based Nisa. Its former chief operating officer Amanda Jones left to join Bargain Booze owner Conviviality Retail last month.

Mr Read is joining Nisa from Thomas Cook, where he was group customer service director. He has also held the position of customer experience director at Lloyds Banking Group, customer service director at Tesco and was a consultant at Deloitte Consulting’s consumer and retail practice.

Mr Read started his retail career at Aldi, where he held various roles starting with store operations and ending as purchasing director.

“Nisa provides a best in class service to its member retailers and is taking big steps to improve the retail experience for shoppers,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to working with the board and members to ensure that Nisa delivers on its potential.”

Nisa plans to expand in the rapidly growing convenience sector. It recently reported strong growth in the recruitment of new independent retailers and of its Heritage own brand range.

Christopher Baker, chairman of Nisa, said: “Nick’s mix of strategic and operational experience and his strong focus on the customer set him apart.

“Nick is an experienced leader with a cross-sector understanding of shopper behaviour. His skills and insight will be invaluable to our business as we continue to develop as a retail organisation.”

Over the past few years Nisa has fended off takeover approaches from York-based Costcutter and Bibby Line.

Last year, Costcutter severed long-standing distribution ties with Nisa.

Nisa is relaunching more than 1,300 lines in its own-label range and has introduced new store formats.