Asda strengthens commercial leadership with ambient vice president appointment

Asda has strengthened its commercial leadership team with the appointment of Jon Downes as vice president for ambient.

Downes, who joins in August, has been serving as food commercial operations director at M&S since 2024. Before that, he spent over nine years in various  commercial director roles at Morrisons and has also worked at Tesco.

Reporting to chief commercial officer Darren Blackhurst, he will lead Asda’s ambient category, with a remit spanning commercial performance, supplier partnerships and category strategy.

Blackhurst said: “Jon brings a wealth of experience and a strong track recorD of delivering commercial outcomes that create value for customers, colleagues and suppliers alike.

“I’m looking forward to working with him as we continue to strengthen our commercial proposition.”

In February, Asda announced that it had strengthened its customer and marketing leadership with the appointment of Tom Hampson as vice president of marketing.