Rick Haythornthwaite
People
Chairman of NatWest Group plc and Chairman of the AA
On appointment
Rick joined the Board of Ocado Group as Non-Executive Chair in 2021 and since April 2024 is Non-Executive Chairman of NatWest Group plc. He is a graduate of Oxford University and MIT and spent his early career at BP, latterly becoming CEO of Blue Circle and Invensys and a Partner of Star Capital. Rick’s non-executive career has been extensive – he was previously Chair of Mastercard Inc., Chair of Railsr, an embedded finance technology company, Xynteo, an ESG consulting company, Centrica plc and Network Rail Limited. He is co-founder of QiO Technologies (he was also previously Chair), an industrial AI company, and has held non-executive directorships at Globant SA, Land Securities Group plc, Imperial Chemical Industries plc, Lafarge SA and Cookson Group plc.
Rick’s skills and previous experience in a wide range of industries make him an exceptional Chair for Ocado. He has strong business acumen and brings a blend of strategic vision and operational expertise to the role. His ability to navigate complex challenges, drive innovation and adapt to changing market dynamics aligns perfectly with Ocado’s position as a pioneer in online grocery and robotics.
Tim Steiner
Non-Executive Director of Ocado Retail Limited
No
Tim is the founding Chief Executive Officer of Ocado, which he established with two former colleagues from Goldman Sachs in 2000, and has been an Executive Director ever since. He started his career as a bond trader at Goldman Sachs in London, New York and Hong Kong.
As CEO, Tim leads on the implementation of the Group’s strategy and ensures the Executive Committee is aligned on the Group’s strategy and vision. Tim’s ability to drive strategic partnerships, navigate complex supply chain logistics and leverage cutting-edge technology demonstrates his effectiveness in steering Ocado’s growth. As a founder of Ocado, he plays an important role in leading Ocado’s culture of openness, innovation and collaboration.
Stephen Daintith
Non-Executive Director of 3i Group plc, Non-Executive Director of Ocado Retail Limited
No
Stephen joined the Ocado Group Board as Chief Financial Officer from Rolls-Royce in 2021, bringing with him a deep understanding and experience of UK-listed and international business across a range of sectors. He graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA in Economics and Accounting and qualified as a Chartered Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (now PwC) in 1988.
Stephen has held many executive roles including Finance Director of Daily Mail and General Trust plc, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Dow Jones & Co, and CFO of News International.
He has extensive financial expertise and a strategic mindset gained over his career. Stephen’s financial stewardship makes him a valuable asset in shaping Ocado’s financial strategy and ensuring its continued success.
Julia M. Brown
People, Remuneration
Board Member of Molson Coors Beverage Company, Board Member of Solo Brands, Inc, Board Member of Perrigo Company PLC
Yes
Julia joined the Ocado board as Non-Executive Director in January 2023. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the fields of supply chain, procurement and operations. She has served as Chief Procurement officer for several of the world’s largest global companies including Clorox, Kraft, Mondelez, Mars-Wrigley and Carnival Corporation and plc. She has also worked in key leadership positions at Procter & Gamble, Diageo and Gillette. She has led significant operational and organisational transformation initiatives primarily in the consumer products and hospitality sectors. She has also led the creation of multi-billion dollar contracts and supplier relationships and global teams in every region of the world.
Julia also has an extensive background in mergers & acquisitions and sustainability. She also advises on non-profit boards and has served on finance, audit and governance for those organisations. She currently serves as a trustee for the Perez Art Museum (Miami) and the Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply (UK).
Julia’s qualifications and experience make her an outstanding Non-Executive Director at Ocado, largely owing to her vast experience across her roles
Andrew Harrison
Audit, Remuneration, People (Chair)
Chair of Trustees of The Mix, Chair of Purplebricks (Strike Ltd), Partner of Freston Ventures Investments LLP, Chair of Chicken Shop (Chik’n Ltd), Non-Executive Director of Dr. Martens plc, Director of Smiles and Smiles Holding Ltd
Yes
Andrew joined the Ocado Group Board as a Non-Executive Director in 2016. He graduated from the University of Leeds with a BA (Hons) in Management Studies in 1992 and is currently a partner at Freston Road Ventures, which invests in consumer brands that challenge the status quo. He chairs a number of the investments, including Purplebricks, and advises and works with others such as Five Guys. Andrew previously served as Chair of Carphone Warehouse Ltd and was formerly Group CEO of Carphone Warehouse Group PLC before its merger which he led with Dixons Group plc. Andrew has an extensive background in leadership and governance and brings a wealth of strategic knowledge and corporate governance expertise to the Board.
His ability to provide independent oversight and offer valuable insights enables him to contribute to, and constructively challenge, a wide range of Board debates. His roles as DNED and Chair of the People Committee are pivotal in ensuring both the succession and composition of the Board and senior management align to the culture and strategy of Ocado, and that employees feel their voice is heard in the boardroom. During his career, he has successfully grown numerous new businesses, has international retail experience and developed and ran a global services business.
Emma Lloyd
People, Remuneration
VP, Partnerships EMEA, Netflix
Yes
Emma joined the Board of Ocado Group as a Non-Executive Director in 2016. She is also Vice President, Partnerships EMEA at Netflix. Emma graduated with a BA Joint Hons in Management Studies and Geography from the University of Leeds in 1992 and has an extensive background in technology, innovation and digital transformation, spanning leadership roles in renowned technology companies and venture capital firms. She spent 15 years at Sky Group overseeing the creation of Sky’s start-up venture investment function and US presence, leading to investment in over 30 technology start-ups. Prior to leaving she held the position of Chief Business Development Officer of the group.
Emma’s experience in innovation, business development and leadership bring a dynamic dimension to the Board. Her forward-thinking approach and ability to navigate complex landscapes position her as a strategic asset.
Rachel Osborne
Audit (Chair), People
Non-Executive Director of Marston’s PLC
Yes
Rachel joined the Ocado Group Board as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee in 2023. She was most recently the CEO of Ted Baker, stepping down in June 2023, and was previously CFO of Debenhams plc, Domino’s Pizza Group plc and Finance Director of the John Lewis Division within the John Lewis Partnership. Rachel holds an MA in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Cambridge and is a qualified chartered accountant.
Rachel is a highly qualified Non-Executive Director and she possesses in-depth comprehension of financial management, strategic planning, and customer-centric business approaches. Her background and extensive financial expertise allow her to chair the Audit Committee effectively and her background and insight into consumer experience and retail are very valuable.
Gavin Patterson
Remuneration, People
Chair of Elixirr International plc, Chair of Kahoot!, Chair of Beamery Inc., Non-Executive Director of Malt, Non-Executive Director of Fractal Analytics, Non-Executive Director of Wix.com, Non-Executive Director of X3t, Senior Advisor and Chair of Kraken Technologies, Trustee and Chair of the British American Business Association, Independent Council Member of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Yes
Gavin joined the Ocado Group Board as a Non-Executive Director in June 2024. Gavin was previously at Salesforce Inc., predominantly in the role of President and Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to joining Salesforce, he held multiple senior roles at BT Group plc, including Group Chief Executive Officer between 2013 and 2019. His prior positions include management and marketing roles at Procter & Gamble. Gavin has served on various boards including of listed, privately held and private equity-owned companies as well as for several charities and educational establishments. He graduated from Cambridge University with an MEng, Chemical Engineering.
Gavin brings to the Ocado Board considerable expertise leading large multinational organisations and highly relevant experience of the global marketplace for platform services. His considerable experience at the helm of multinational B2B technology companies will be a valuable asset to our Board and leadership team.
Jörn Rausing
People
Group Board Member of Tetra Laval, Board Member of Alfa Laval AB, Board Member of DeLaval Holding AB
Yes
Jörn has been a Non-Executive Director of Ocado Group since 2003, when he made a significant investment in the business and before the Group was listed. He holds a degree in Business Administration from Lund University, Sweden and has over 30 years’ experience in corporate development and international mergers and acquisitions.
Jörn’s extensive background in business and investments equips him with strong skills in assessing investment opportunities, evaluating risk and providing a broader perspective on business strategy. This aligns well with Ocado’s ambition in the competitive online grocery and technology sectors and his significant knowledge of the history of the business is extremely valuable in providing context and continuity for new members. He is considered independent by the Board.
Nadia Shouraboura
People, Audit
Non-Executive Director of Ferguson plc, Senior Advisor to New Mountain, Capital LLC, Non-Executive Director of Mobile TeleSystems PJSC
Yes
Nadia joined the Board of Ocado Group as a Non-Executive Director in 2021. She is an industry leader in the field of machine learning and robotics, and holds a PhD in Mathematics from Princeton University.
Her previous roles include Vice President, Technology, Worldwide Supply Chain and Fulfilment at Amazon, Non-Executive Director of Cimpress plc, Director of X5 Retail Group, and CEO and founder of Hointer, a start-up retail technology company aiming to change the physical retail experience with smart solutions and analytics.
Nadia’s extensive knowledge in technology, supply chain efficiency and innovation brings a profound understanding of ecommerce, automation, logistics and strategies focused on meeting customer needs to the Board. She provides focused insight and valuable know-how to Board discussions.
Julie Southern
Audit, Remuneration (Chairman), People
Non-Executive Director at NXP Semiconductors N.V., Non-Executive Director of Shilton Midco 2 Limited Non-Executive Director at RWS Holdings plc
Yes
Julie joined the Board of Ocado Group as a Non-Executive Director in 2018 and is Chair of the Remuneration Committee. She is also a Non-Executive Chair of RWS Holdings and NXP Semiconductors. Julie holds a BA (Hons) in Economics from the University of Cambridge and is a qualified chartered accountant. Her previous executive roles included Group Finance Director at Porsche Cars, CFO and CCO at Virgin Atlantic and Finance and Operations Director at WH Smith. Her former non‑executive roles included Chair of the Audit Committees at Rentokil Initial plc, DFS Furniture Company and Cineworld plc. She was also Non-Executive Director and SID at easyJet plc and Chair of the Nomination and Compensation Committee at Gategroup.
Julie’s extensive experience in finance and strategic leadership across technology, aviation and finance sectors bring financial acumen, risk assessment skills and a proven track record of guiding organisations through growth and transformation to the Board. She provides valuable insights, significant board experience in public companies and financial expertise to effectively chair the Remuneration Committee and provide valuable experience to the Audit Committee.
Our Board Committees
A summary of our committee structure and membership information.
Chairperson = C, Member = M
John Martin
John has extensive operational and financial management experience, running several large international B2B and B2C businesses.
He has occupied the position of CEO of NYSE/FTSE 100 distributor, Ferguson plc, CFO of FTSE 100 distributor and business service company, Hays plc and CFO of Travelex Group.
Before joining the Ocado team as CEO of Ocado Solutions in 2023, John supported the Ocado Group board for over 4 years as Non-Executive Director.
Prior to this, John graduated from Imperial College, London in 1987 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen, where he worked for nine years in audit, operational consulting and corporate finance. He was also Group Controller of The Stationery Office Group after its privatisation in 1996.
Tom Berry
Tom is responsible for the global delivery of the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) to our partners and prospects, and for shaping the strategic direction of the OSP product.
Aside from a paper round and a stint as an English teacher in Japan, Tom is a lifelong Ocado employee. He joined Ocado as a placement student in 2000, rejoining the business after completing a degree in logistics—and has since played a pivotal role in the growth of the Ocado Retail business and the development of the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) and CFC propositions, including the first OSP CFC in Andover.
More recently, Tom, as Director of Programme Management, was accountable for leading the delivery of Ocado’s global OSP CFC portfolio. Tom's diverse experience gives him a unique Ocado perspective which he takes into his role as CSO.
Tom is passionate about evolving Ocado’s compelling customer propositions and keeping ahead of the competition in delivering a world-class Platform for our partners' unique businesses.
Mark Bentley
Mark has global responsibility for the success of Ocado's partners utilising OSP and is commercially responsible for all existing and new clients in the Americas. He brings a deep understanding of OSP and e-commerce, coupled with unwavering energy and enthusiasm for supporting growth and profitability, to Ocado and its global partner network.
A senior leader with over 30 years of experience in FMCG across a broad spectrum of senior functions, Mark has been instrumental in building the international technical and engineering workforce supporting Ocado’s OSP partners. He also led the project to create the Ocado Retail joint venture with M&S and the separation of Ocado’s retail business.
Prior to this, Mark honed his skills in people management by leading Ocado’s HR and Customer Services departments and as Director of Service Delivery.
Mark enjoys learning about the unique operational challenges of partner businesses across different cultures and landscapes, and identifying how best Ocado—its technology and its people—can support them.
Adriano Araujo
Based in Singapore, Adriano has spent the better part of the last 15 years providing world-class data and monetisation solutions at Dunnhumby where he was President of the LATAM business and previously President of APAC (leading their team of 200 across nine countries).
He also has extensive experience in driving growth and leading change in the intersection of retail, digital transformation, AI and customer analytics with full ownership of selling, building the team and nurturing relationships with key clients and stakeholders.
Adriano holds an MBA in Strategy and Marketing from the London Business School and a BA in Social Communication and Advertising from the Universida de Catolica in Brazil. Adriano is an avid fan of Formula 1 and enjoys swimming and family life.
Gregor Ulitzka
Gregor has a broad range of experience across consumer categories, as well as 20 years of experience leading multicultural commercial, product management and operations teams spread across Europe and Asia.
He joins Ocado from Amazon, where he built and scaled the vendor-facing supply chain for over 10 years, with his most recent role being Director of Supply Chain and Inventory Management for Europe.
Gregor spent the previous 13 years in Grocery at Metro in European Leadership roles where he started in Buying and Category Management to move on to become a Senior Director in Solutions and Systems.
James Matthews
James Matthews is CEO of Ocado Technology and leads a 2,500-strong team of technologists in 11 development centres across 7 countries, building the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) for our international partners.
James joined Ocado Group in 2005 as a software development intern and has subsequently held senior roles across software engineering, business development, strategy, investor relations and marketing. James’s early career highlights include building the General Merchandise arm of the business and overseeing 10-fold growth in 5 years, as well as conceptualising and helping get Ocado Zoom off the ground.
James rejoined Ocado Technology in the spring of 2018. As CEO, James has been instrumental in maturing the organisation to work globally at scale. He has transformed the structures, processes and frameworks to set the organisation up for success and accelerate the delivery of OSP across the globe. Under his leadership, Ocado Technology launched the online grocery businesses of Sobeys, Casino, and Kroger, despite the challenges of Covid-19. From an organisation that used to launch one highly automated Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) every few years, we now work with clients across the world getting ready to deliver over 50 CFCs in the coming few years.
James holds a BEng in Computing from Imperial College London and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
James Gralton
James has over 16 years’ experience working across engineering and product roles in supply chain, fulfilment, automation and logistics, rising through the company to lead engineering across the whole of the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP).
James started out as a Software Engineer working on the control systems in our original Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs) where thousands of totes travel along 35km of conveyor. He then headed the CFC Systems Technology department as it built, from scratch, the software to power our highly automated warehouses, culminating in the successful launch of our Andover and Erith operational showcase sites. Key to the success of OSP, James grew the product team building the technology behind our highly automated warehouses while also playing an important role in securing our first international partners before leading product and engineering teams to the successful launch of OSP for Casino, Sobeys and Kroger. As Chief Engineering Officer, James now leads five OSP engineering streams.
Alex Harvey
With over 10 years of experience in leading advanced robotics, machine learning, and simulation teams, Alex played an important role in developing the Ocado Smart Platform’s (OSP) proprietary automation warehouse and cutting-edge IP.
In his current role, Alex oversees the research, development and support of the next generation of systems, such as robotic picking and autonomous mobile systems, that will power OSP.
Career highlights include the successful award of two EU Commission funded robotics research projects, working with several high-profile European universities. Alex is a leading AI and robotics expert and his insights have been reported in leading media outlets, such as QConLondon, Wired, and the BBC. Before joining Ocado in 2010, Alex developed real-time safety monitoring systems for clients such as Rolls Royce and the Royal Navy.
Alex began his career in the aerospace industry, having studied mechanical engineering and then computer science and AI at Edinburgh University.
James Donkin
As Chief Technology Officer, James Donkin has overall responsibility for how we develop our technology products and solutions, how technology enables our work, and how our use of technology is robust and secure. Key areas of focus include information security, digital workplace, cloud platform, engineering productivity, tech stack and tooling, and group IT services.
Previously, as General Manager, James was responsible for the development of many elements of the Ocado Smart Platform including webshop and mobile shopping apps, supply chain, home delivery, click and collect and in-store-fulfilment, as well as the cloud platform these services operate on.
James has spent over 25 years in the technology industry, focused on software engineering, with an emphasis on online and retail businesses, distributed computing and computationally challenging problems.
Paul Turner
Paul is the Chief Operations Officer for Ocado Technology, leading the multinational team that installs and operates OSP. He has spent his career designing, developing and managing the operation of complex products and holds a complete lifecycle understanding of the Ocado Smart Platform and its operation, having previously been responsible for the design and development of the bots and grids within our CFCs.
Paul's teams have direct, daily contact with our partners, tasked with making their operations more successful. Their passion and energy provides an unparalleled customer experience at the CFC and across the platform.
Paul joined Ocado in 2017 and has been central to the fantastic growth and development of OSP ever since, from a single CFC to the global footprint that exists today. Prior to joining Ocado, Paul spent 20 years in various technical and management roles within the automotive industry focused on electronics and software—primarily in the electric vehicle (EV) sector.
Paul is a Chartered Engineer with a Masters of Engineering in Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Gabriel Straub
Gabriel joined Ocado Technology in 2020 as Chief Data Officer, bringing over 10 years experience in leading data science teams and helping organisations realise the value of their data. At Ocado Technology his role is to help the organisation take advantage of data and machine learning so that we can best serve our retail partners and their customers.
Gabriel is a guest lecturer at London Business School and an Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL. He has also advised start-ups and VCs on data and machine learning strategies. Before joining Ocado, Gabriel was previously Head of Data Science at the BBC, Data Director at notonthehighstreet.com, and Head of Data Science at Tesco.
Gabriel has a MA in Mathematics from Cambridge and an MBA from London Business School.
Hugh E Williams
Hugh has a distinguished background in research and innovation, and has published over 120 works including 33 issued US patents. His career has taken him to the forefront of innovation at some of the world’s leading tech companies – as Vice President of Google Maps, and in executive roles at eBay, Microsoft, Tinder, and Pivotal. He also spent 10 years developing search technologies plus 5 years running his own startup.
As one of the founders of CS in Schools – which helps educators teach coding – Hugh shares our passion for the importance of STEM education.
Hugh is a Professor at the Melbourne Business School at The University of Melbourne in Australia, and an Adjunct Professor at RMIT University. He is an advisor at Domain, Doordash, Expert360, and Photobox, and a member of the board of the State Library, Victoria. Hugh has a PhD in Computer Science from RMIT University.
Mark Carges
Mark Carges serves on the board of directors of Splunk, Veeva and Magnet Systems, and also as a senior advisor to Generation Investment Management.
Mark is a renowned strategic leader and visionary in ecommerce, having served as CTO at eBay Inc. from 2009 to 2014, where he oversaw eBay Inc.’s platform strategy, and had overall responsibility for technology, software development, and site operations for eBay.com.
Previously, at BEA Systems – a provider of enterprise application infrastructure software acquired by Oracle in 2008 – Mark held a variety of senior technology leadership roles, including that of CTO. He began his career at Bell Labs as one of the original architects of Tuxedo, software for constructing highly scalable transaction processing applications.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Science degree from New York University.
Derrick Connell
Derrick is a product and strategy advisor with a wealth of experience – including 28 years at Microsoft and over 8 years as Corporate Vice President leading product and engineering for Cortana and Bing.
As Founder of AI – A Voice for Human Rights, Derrick is at the forefront of the debate around the ethics of AI, championing the drive to ensure AI is leveraged to improve human rights around the world.
Brad Pietras
Brad Pietras has a thirty-year career in industry and academia leading technology development. He spent twenty years at Lockheed Martin reaching the position of Vice President of Technology and led the development and introduction of advanced carbon-based materials in multiple platforms and manufacturing processes, including the Juno spacecraft currently orbit around Jupiter.
In 2019, he completed his Ph.D. in Computational Neuroscience from the University of Maryland in collaboration with the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at University College London. His thesis explores the mathematical and neural foundations of value in decision-making and reinforcement learning.
Dr. Pietras also holds degrees in Physics and Neuroscience and was a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health in the US and University College London. He is currently an Honorary Principal Research Fellow at Imperial College and a visiting professor at King’s College London.
Brad has over two decades of board experience and has served on both corporate and university advisory boards including the Lockheed Martin Emerging Technology Fund and Cambridge University’s Center for Energy Studies. He has also served on and chaired several not-for-profit corporate and public service boards.
Mark Richardson
Leah Holding
Anne Marie Neatham
David Scheffrahn
Monique Apter
