The Co-operative Group has named Richard Pennycook, the interim boss who had previously counted himself out of the running for the top job, as new chief executive as it attempts to rebuild its reputation after a series of damaging financial crises.
Mr Pennycook, who is a former finance director of Wm Morrison Supermarkets, stepped into the breach after the surprise resignation of Euan
Sutherland in March and has spent the past six months steadying the ship. His appointment was announced alongside the Co-op’s first-half results, which showed that it had posted a small profit against a heavy loss the previous year.
The 50-year-old said he changed his mind on taking the top job after new governance reforms were introduced at an extraordinary meeting over the