Primark has looked to the supermarkets and hospitality sector for its new COO with ex-Tesco senior executive Nigel Jones installed in the post.

Its new chief operating officer spent a quarter of a century at the UK’s largest supermarkets business. But more recently he spent seven years at Whitbread as group operations and transformation director.

In the Tesco role, he worked his way up from store manager to a range of  senior posts across stores, technology, supply chain and procurement, and international operations.

That experience will be key at expanding Primark where his remit will cover technology, the supply chain and logistics, as well as business transformation.

CEO Paul Marchant said: “Nigel joins us with a wealth of experience of running international operations of significant scale across multiple markets including the UK, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

“With Primark now established in 17 markets we stand to gain significantly from Nigel’s global expertise across key areas.”

The company has been opening new stores and entering new markets at speed and now has 440+ stores internationally with an aim of 530 by end-2026. 

Jones said he’s been struck by the continual growth of Primark “and the influence it holds as a leader in the industry”.