Alison Jane Horner (born June 1966) is a British businesswoman, and, until it was sold in 2020, was the CEO of the Asian arm of the

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

supermarket chain.

Early life

Alison Jane Horner was born in June 1966. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, and an MBA from Manchester Business School.

Career

Tesco

Horner joined

as a personnel manager in 1999 and was on Tesco's executive committee from 2011. In October 2013, Horner became a founding member of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

s Women in Leadership network. in 2015, she became a member of

Alliance Manchester Business School Alliance Manchester Business School (Alliance MBS) is the business school of the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. One of the most prestigious business schools in the United Kingdom, it is also the second oldest in the UK, and pro ...

's advisory board. Horner was Tesco' chief people officer (chief human resources officer) of Tesco until May 2018, when she was promoted to be chief executive of Tesco's Asia business in Malaysia and Thailand, until it was sold in late 2020. She was set to step down in February 2021 after 22 years with Tesco.

Carillion non-executive role

Horner was a non-executive director of

Carillion Carillion plc was a British multinational construction and facilities management services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation in January 2018. Carillion was created in July 1999, following a ...

from December 2013, chairing the remuneration committee from June 2014. As of 30 December 2016 her basic compensation was £61,000. After the company went into liquidation in January 2018, Horner was one of the non-executive directors who gave evidence to the House of Commons Business and Work and Pensions select committees on 6 February 2018. In the final report of the Parliamentary Inquiry, published on 16 May 2018, Horner was criticised by MPs; the report concluded: :"... Alison Horner presided over growing salaries and bonuses at the top of the company as its performance faltered. In her evidence to us, she sought to justify her approach by pointing to industry standards, the guidance of advisors, and conversations with shareholders. She failed to demonstrate to us any sense of challenge to the advice she was given, any concern about the views of stakeholders, or any regret at the largesse at the top of Carillion. Ms Horner continues to hold the role of Chief People Officer of Tesco, where she has responsibilities to more than half a million employees. We hope that, in that post, she will reflect on the lessons learned from Carillion and her role in its collapse." In January 2021, the Insolvency Service said it would seek to ban eight former Carillion directors, including Horner, from holding senior boardroom positions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Alison Living people 1966 births British businesspeople in retailing Tesco people Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the Manchester Business School Carillion people