Co-op hands Nelson reprised top customer officer job

The Co-op has finally reinstated the role of chief membership and customer officer – last held by Matt Atkinson over 18 months ago – and has appointed former N Brown chief Kenyatte Nelson to take the reins.

Nelson, who brings over 20 years’ industry experience, was most recently chief brand officer at JD Williams owner N Brown, but left the group in October after almost four years; prior to that he held leadership roles at Missguided, The Very Group and Procter & Gamble.

In his new role, Nelson will be responsible for the Co-op’s membership, marketing and brand strategies, including supporting the retailer’s presence at UK music festivals and the naming rights partnership with Co-op Live, which is anticipated to be one of the world’s premier music and entertainment arenas.

Nelson, who currently serves as a non-executive director for the British Retail Consortium, will report into Co-op chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq and takes a seat on its operating board.

He said: “I could not be more excited about joining the Co-op Group. It is a values driven organisation that touches and improves the lives of millions of people, and I look forward to working with Shirine, the operating board and the rest of the team, to build on the great work that is already happening across the group.”

Khoury-Haq added: “Kenyatte brings with him a huge amount of marketing, digital, customer and brand experience – he will be a huge asset to our Co-op Group, as leads our membership, marketing and customer activity.”

Atkinson joined the Co-op in 2017, and was charged with unifying the business around the Co-op brand, and led a significant transformation of its platforms across data, digital, membership and community.

The Co-op credited him for the change in the positioning of key assets, and that its platforms were now capable of meeting the changing needs of customers and members.

When he left in April 2021, the Co-op split his role between the customer and community director, the data and loyalty director and head of CRM and customer experience.