Fashion brand George owner Asda has strengthened its digital ambitions by appointing David Devany Vice-President for e-commerce.

The value supermarket giant, whose George brand is currently enjoying both strong online and in-stores sales, sees Devany joining Asda’s digital leadership team “to deliver on its long-term growth strategy”. 

He will join from Iceland Foods, where he has held the role of Group Chief Customer, Marketing and Digital Officer since 2020. However, a start date has yet to be announced.

He brings over 25 years of experience in e-commerce, digital and marketing, and will focus on growing Asda’s presence in the competitive online market across all of its categories.

Commenting on the appointment, Asda’s co-owner Mohsin Issa said: “As we continue to strengthen our senior leadership team… David has extensive experience and a proven-track record in retail within the UK, as well as across Europe and the USA. David’s remit will cover the entirety of our e-commerce business, and his appointment will play an important part.”

Devany added: “This is an exciting time to be joining the team… with Asda having already made strong headway in the e-commerce space.”

He will report to Matt Kelleher, the firm’s new Chief Digital Officer who arrives this month from rival supermarket Morrisons to oversee e-commerce and data functions.

While Asda witnessed record £3.2 billion online grocery sales in 2023 taking its grocery market share to 20.8%, its reinvigorated fashion and lifestyle brand George also capped a strong six-month trading period with “soaring growth” both online as well as in-store.

George online sales jumped 13.4% over the 24 weeks to 3 March, outstripping the market’s performance of +2.1% reported by Kantar. The success has been helped by the relaunch of its trend-led sub-brand G21, supported by leading influencer Sophie Piper.