Morrisons lures BP chief as group marketing director

Morrisons has appointed a successor to Rachel Eyre, who quit to join Asda last month, drafting in BP chief Claire Farrant as group marketing director.

At Morrisons, Farrant will work closely with Matt McLellan who joins from Asda at the beginning of June in the newly created role of group data and media director. She will start her new role this week.

At BP, she has been CMO/VP Mobility and Convenience Europe for the past 18 months.

Starting her career in 2001 as a marketing manager at Kerry Foods, Farrant first moved to Woolworths and then to Tesco in 2005 where she spent nearly a decade in marketing and commercial roles.

She joined Lidl in 2015 as marketing director, contributing to the retailer’s impressive market share growth and move into the UK’s “big six” supermarkets.

While there, Farrant’s role involved streamlining brand consistency and optimising marketing costs across 32 markets, launching and leading the marketing strategy for Lidl’s own reward programme Lidl Plus, while developing talent and growth in her team, which she is passionate about.

Morrisons chief executive Rami Baitiéh said: “Claire has an outstanding record in UK grocery and her deep experience; clear customer focus and proven strategic marketing skills will make her a valuable new addition to our senior team. I look forward to welcoming Claire to Morrisons in early June.

“I would also like to thank Rachel for her contribution to Morrisons over several years and wish her the very best for the future.”