Ocado said to be lining up successor to CEO Tim Steiner

(Sharecast News) - Ocado said on Monday that its chief executive and the board "continually engage in long-term succession planning and regularly engage with potential candidates". The very brief statement was made in response to a report over the weekend suggesting the board is sounding out candidates to replace CEO Tim Steiner following a weak share price performance.

According to Sky News, Ocado is preparing to appoint a successor to Steiner, one of the founders of the business more than 25 years ago and architect of its London float in 2010. Sky said on Sunday that Ocado's board is lining up a new chief executive, weeks after it unveiled a new online retail partnership with the supermarket giant Asda.

A technology industry source told Sky that Niklas Heuveldop, the chief executive of Vonage, a subsidiary of Sweden's Ericsson, had been sounded out about taking over from Steiner.

Sky said it was unclear how imminent any announcement about CEO succession might be or whether Heuveldop remained in the frame to land the role. The search for a new boss of the e-commerce technology group was said to be being led by Adam Warby, who has chaired Ocado for the last 18 months.

Warby took over from Rick Haythornthwaite, who now chairs NatWest Group.

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