COMMUNITY PROFILE

Jo Whitfield

Board Mentor

Criticaleye

Jo Whitfield is a Criticaleye Board Mentor with a distinguished career in business growth, restructuring, and digital transformation. She currently serves as a Non-Executive Director, Advisor, and Audit Chair at Asda. Within this portfolio, she also provides specific support for the Asda Express business and serves as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Ethics Committee at Factory International.

Between 2023 and 2024, Jo was the CEO of Matalan, where she was appointed to lead a full reset of the business foundations. Within one year, she achieved significant improvements in profitability, driven by a 5-point reset of gross margins and cost reduction programs contributing to £20m in savings.

Previously, Jo served as the CEO of Food at The Co-operative Group from 2017 to 2022, becoming the first female boss of a major UK grocer. Leading 55,000 colleagues across 2,400 physical retail sites, she managed a £10.8bn turnover and modernized the brand's reach. Her tenure was marked by navigating the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, for which she was awarded a CBE for services to retail and supply in 2021.
Her extensive executive background also includes senior leadership roles at Asda and George, where she led online and international growth strategies, and early career experience at Northern Foods and Ernst & Young. As a mentor, she focuses on building relationships based on trust and taking time to listen to understand context. She is also the founder of Grocery Girls, a network supporting women's career ambitions across the grocery sector.

Jo is an Ambassador for Girls Out Loud, a member of Women in Retail group and leads the Co-op Aspire Network, championing internal progression for all talented individuals. She was appointed CBE in the 2021 Honours for her leadership during the COVID-19 food supply response.