Co-op is the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer with more than 2,500 local, convenience and medium-sized stores.

Retail

Co-op

Meagher joined the Co-op from Tesco, where he was head of customer insight and worked across the brand’s marketing communications, loyalty proposition and foresight.

Nick Meagher

Kenyatte Nelson

Llewelyn, an award-winning chef, is responsible for product creation for Co-op brands, including its GRO vegan and top-tier Irresistible ranges.

With 15 years’ experience within the food industry, Llewelyn’s most recent role was executive development and innovation chef at Greencore.

Dai Llewelyn

Breige Donaghy

Dominic Kendal-Ward is the Group Secretary & General Counsel at [Co-op](/org/co-op). Dominic has a long history of working in the legal field, having previously worked as a Counsel at [Linklaters](/org/linklaters-llp) from March 2004 to July 2017. In this role, Dominic provided corporate insurance counsel to clients. Dominic then transitioned to working at [Co-op](/org/co-op) Insurance from July 2017 to June 2018 as their General Counsel. In this role, Dominic was responsible for providing legal advice to the company and its clients. Dominic Kendal-Ward has been with [Co-op](/org/co-op) in their current role since June 2018.

Dominic Kendal-Ward graduated from the [University of Oxford](/org/university-of-oxford) with a Bachelor of Arts in English Law with German Law.

They work with Charlotte Lock - Director of Data, Loyalty & Digital Products, Caoilionn Hurley - Managing Director, [Co-op](/org/co-op) Legal Services, and Gavin Holt - Head of Probate. Their manager is Shirine Khoury-Haq, Interim CEO.

Dominic Kendal-Ward

Shirine was appointed Interim CEO in March 2022.

Shirine joined the Co-op Executive in August 2019 and is our Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Life Services. Shirine is also a Non-Executive Director of Persimmon Public Limited Company and a member of The Tower Trust.

Before joining us, Shirine was Chief Operating Officer for the Lloyd’s insurance market, which compromised of more than 50 leading insurance companies operating with over 200 Lloyd’s brokers. Her remit included global operations, business transformation, data, information technology and corporate real estate. She also led the modernisation programme for the wider London insurance industry.

In addition to holding senior positions at IBM, McDonalds and insurer, Catlin Group, Shirine has worked in a number of regulated sectors in the UK and overseas including retail, IT, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods. She was also a Non-Executive Director of the [Post Office](/org/post-office).

Shirine holds an MBA from Ohio State University and is a US Certified Public Accountant.

Shirine Khoury-Haq

Margaret Casely-Hayford is a Member Nominated Director at [Co-op](/org/co-op) and former Chair of [ActionAid](/org/actionaid). Margaret has dedicated their career to fighting inequality and promoting opportunity for all.

Casely-Hayford began their career as a lawyer, before moving into the charity sector. Margaret joined [ActionAid](/org/actionaid) in 2014, and quickly rose to the role of Chair. In this role, they provided leadership to the board and helped the organisation implement its strategy and achieve its objectives.

Under their tenure, [ActionAid](/org/actionaid) became known not only for its humanitarian work, but also for its focus on establishing rights and responsibilities. This work was in line with the feminist principles of the UK entity and also the International [ActionAid](/org/actionaid) federation.

Casely-Hayford left [ActionAid](/org/actionaid) in 2018 to join [Co-op](/org/co-op) as a Member Nominated Director. In this role, they continue to fight for a fairer, more just society.

Margaret Casely-Hayford has a Master of Arts in Jurisprudence from the [University of Oxford](/org/university-of-oxford). Margaret also studied law at the Inns of Court School of Law.

Margaret Casely-Hayford

Victor Adebowale is an Independent Non-Executive Director at [Co-op](/org/co-op) and a previous Chief Executive of Turning Point, a substance abuse charity. Victor successfully transformed the company from a loss-making organization to a £125 million social enterprise with a growing national remit of services that engage 77,000+ people across 200 sites via 3,800 staff. This included streamlining the existing staff base and recruiting an entirely new leadership focused senior management team. 

Key to this success has been ensuring the retention of company ethos and values while innovating new services, such as integrating the alcohol and drug misuse services, thereby enabling profitable growth and increased efficiency. 90% of our services are rated good or outstanding, staff engagement is 84% and staff’s understanding of vision is 92%.

Victor Adebowale's educational career began with him earning a MA in Advanced Organisational Consultation from [City, University of London](/org/city-university-of-london). Victor then went on to earn a Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Organizational Consultation from Tavistock Institute of Human Relations.

Victor Adebowale

Paul Chandler is a Member Nominated Director at [Co-op](/org/co-op). Paul has previously worked as the Fair Trade Advocacy Office (FTAO), the Bible Society, The [Co-op](/org/co-op)erative Group, Shared Interest Society Ltd, County Durham Community Foundation, and Engage Mutual Assurance. Paul is currently the Chair of Cathedral Council and the Chief Executive of Traidcraft plc. Paul has also served as a Board Trustee for CBF Funds Trustee Ltd and as the Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Fellow for St Chad's College.

Paul Chandler has an MBA from Henley Management College and a degree in Modern Theirtory from the [University of Oxford](/org/university-of-oxford). Paul also has a degree in Theirtory, Economics, and French from Wellington College.

Paul Chandler

Sarah McCarthy-Fry is a Member Nominated Director at [Co-op](/org/co-op) and has held this position since December 2010. Prior to this, Sarah was an Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury at HM Treasury from January 2009 to December 2010. 

Sarah has also been Chair of the Solent LEP Employment & Skills Board from January 2013 to December 2013. In addition, they were an MP for Portsmouth North from January 2005 to December 2010 and held the same role at the House of Commons from January 2005 to December 2010. 

From 2012 to 2020, Sarah was Finance Director and from 2010 to 2012, they were Financial Controller. Before these roles, Sarah worked as a Financial Analyst at [GKN Aerospace](/org/gknaero) from January 2000 to December 2005.

Sarah Mccarthy-Fry

Gavin Holt is the current Head of Probate at [Co-op](/org/co-op). Gavin has previous experience working as an Associate (non-solicitor) at Blake Morgan LLP from November 2013 to July 2016. Gavin also worked as a Probate Executive at Blake Lapthorn from December 2007 to November 2013. Gavin's most senior role was as an Executive Officer at HM Courts & Tribunals Service (Probate Registry) from August 2000 to December 2007, where they had management responsibility for a small team of administrative officers and assistants.

Their manager is Shirine Khoury-Haq, Interim CEO. Gavin Holt works with Mike Hazell - Interim Chief Finance Officer, Charlotte Lock - Director of Data, Loyalty & Digital Products, and Caoilionn Hurley - Managing Director, [Co-op](/org/co-op) Legal Services.

Gavin Holt

Mike Hazell is the Interim Chief Finance Officer at [Co-op](/org/co-op). Prior to this, they were the CEO/CFO of [Debenhams](/org/debenhams) from February 2010 to September 2021. Mike was installed as CEO to examine and deliver exit options for investors and creditors following the dramatic impact repeated [Covid](/org/covid) lockdowns were having on group cash flows. Before that, they were the Assistant Treasurer of British Sky Broadcasting plc from February 2005 to February 2010. Prior to that, they worked in various finance management roles at [Fonterra](/org/fonterra) from August 2003 to November 2004. Before that, they worked in various finance roles at [Pfizer](/org/pfizer) from December 1995 to March 2003.

Mike Hazell reports to Shirine Khoury-Haq, Interim CEO. They work with Gavin Holt - Head of Probate, Dominic Kendal-Ward - Group Secretary & General Counsel, and Jo Whitfield - Chief Executive, Food.

Mike Hazell

Jonathan Appleby is the current Head of Corporate Partnerships at [Co-op](/org/co-op). Jonathan has also held the position of Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Lyons Davidson Limited from June 2012 to December 2017. Prior to that, they were the Head of Business Development and Strategy at AXA from June 2007 to June 2012. Jonathan has also worked as the Head of Commercial Sales (short term contract) at [Computershare](/org/computershare) from January 2006 to December 2007, Head of Retail Sales at Intermec by [Honeywell](/org/honeywell) from January 2003 to December 2006, and Head Of Business Development - Card Services at Halifax from January 2002 to December 2004. Jonathan began their career in Business Development and Sales at [British Airways](/org/british-airways) from January 1992 to December 1999, and later moved on to Sales at [Barclays](/org/barclays) from January 1988 to December 1992.



Their manager is Caoilionn Hurley, Managing Director, [Co-op](/org/co-op) Legal Services. They are on a team with and James Antoniou - Head of Estate Planning & Senior Solicitor.

Jonathan Appleby

James Antoniou is Head of Estate Planning and a Senior Solicitor at Co-op Legal Services in Bristol.

As Head of the Estate Planning legal practice, James is responsible for the Wills and Lasting Power of Attorney writing team from both an operational and commercial perspective. James has considerable experience in all aspects of private client law having spent many years representing a broad spectrum of clients including high net worth individuals and lottery winners.

His expertise covers a wide range of advice on Wills, Probate, Lasting Power of Attorney, Tax and Trusts and related succession issues. James has been ranked in the two major legal directories, Chambers and Partners and Legal 500, as a leader in his field and, earlier in his career, he was named as one of the Top 35 under 35 Private Client practitioners in the country.

James Antoniou

As Managing Director of Life Planning and Legal, Caoilionn works with the legal teams, technology teams and other expert teams to continuously invest in people, processes and systems to deliver services to the highest standards.

Caoilionn Hurley

Kate has an extensive track record of senior executive and Non-Executive leadership roles in the food supply chain and agriculture industries. She is passionate about Co-operation having been the Chief Executive of First Milk, the British farmer-owned dairy co-operative. Kate was also CEO of CeDo, a leader in providing recyclable/sustainable consumer household products. Kate is currently a Non-Executive Director of Cranswick plc, a leading UK food producer, a Non-Executive Director of Stock Spirits, a leading spirits and liqueur business and Chair of the Court at the University of Scotland and a Director of Origin Enterprises plc, an international agri-services business.

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