Top job: Shirine Khoury-Haq is Co-op’s new chief executive
Co-op has appointed its first female chief executive in its 159-year history.
The mutual, which runs supermarkets, funeral homes and insurance and legal services, said Shirine Khoury-Haq has taken the top job permanently. She took over from Steve Murrells in March on an interim basis when he surprisingly left after ten years. Khoury-Haq joined Co-op in 2019 as its finance boss and head of its life services arm.
She is also a non-executive director of housebuilder Persimmon and has held positions at the Post Office and McDonald’s. She was paid £836,000 in 2021, including her £650,000 salary.
This has increased since taking the top job to a base salary of £750,000, in line with Murrells, whose total pay last year including bonuses was £1.5million.
Shore Capital retail analyst Clive Black said her appointment ‘will put one or two retail-based noses out of joint. Her background is financial, not in retail.’
Khoury-Haq said there is ‘a lot to do’, but highlighted the company’s rich history.
