British Retail Consortium appoints new chair

Steven Esom has been appointed as chairman of BRC Trading, the commercial arm of the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Former executive director of food at Marks & Spencer and managing director of Waitrose, Esom is currently an operating partner at Langholm Capital and is chairman of the Food Standards Agency’s, retailer hygiene rating scheme. He began his career with J Sainsbury in 1982 and has extensive experience in retail and the food sector.

Esom will take over from David Adams from April. Adams has been acting as interim chairman since Gordon Brown stepped down in August 2010 and will then become a non-executive director of BRC Trading.

Director general of the BRC, Stephen Robertson, said: ‘BRC Trading is going from strength to strength. It’s a measure of its success that someone of Steven’s caliber has chosen to take on this role. As it enters its second decade, we have big ambitions to grow the company further and we are all really looking forward to working with Steven on the next phase of our development.’

Keith Evans, CEO of BRC Trading, said: ‘With the BRC global standards supplier-certification scheme at the heart of what Trading does, Steven’s years of experience in retailing, and in food in particular, will be invaluable. His work chairing a steering group for the Food Standards Agency has demonstrated his ability to mediate between diverse opinions across the food sector and he is held in high regard.’ 

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