Steven Geoffrey Murrells, (born 3 August 1965) is a British businessman, the former chief executive of

The Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-op ...

, and the former chief executive of

Co-op Food Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom. Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used " The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co- ...

(and Co-op Electricals). Co-op Food has over 2,800 stores in the UK – at least one in every postal area. It is the sixth largest food retailer in the UK. Co-op Food turns over around £9.5bn, with around 6% of the grocery market.

Early life

He was born in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

in Essex.

Career

Murrells held senior leadership roles in European and UK-based food retail businesses, including

One Stop 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 ...

, Sainsbury’s and

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 ...

. He spent three years as CEO of Danish meat company, Tulip, before joining Co-op in 2012. ''

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 ...

'' reported that Murrells was paid a £2.2 million bonus in 2020. He became chief executive of Co-operative Retail in July 2012. He became chief executive of The Co-operative Group on 1 March 2017. Murrells was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to the food supply chain. In May 2022, it was announced that he would be succeeded as CEO by Shirine Khoury-Haq.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murrells, Steve 1965 births British retail chief executives English businesspeople in retailing People from Colchester People from Prestbury, Cheshire The Co-operative Group Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire