dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay to Leave the Business

In the UK, dunnhumby CEO Simon Hay is leaving at the end of the month to 'pursue new challenges', after 25 years with the business.

Founded by husband and wife team Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby in 1989, dunnhumby is best known as the data firm behind the Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme. In 2001, Tesco bought a 53% stake in dunnhumby for £30m, and it increased its stake to 84% in 2006, before buying out the rest of the shares. In 2015, Tesco considered the sale of dunnhumby, in an attempt to pay off some of its adjusted net debt following an accounting scandal. However, it later decided to abandon the sale of dunnhumby, after its price tag was said to have dropped from an initial £2bn to around £700m.

Hay (pictured) took on leadership of the firm in 2011, having joined the Board in 1995, established dunnhumbyUSA in 2003 through a partnership with grocery retail chain Kroger, and returned to run the UK and Ireland business in 2009. Earlier he worked at market analysis company CACI, where Dunn and Humby began their careers.

Commenting on Hay's departure, a Tesco spokesman said: 'In Simon's time with dunnhumby, the brand has become synonymous with outstanding problem-solving to help grocers serve their customers better. He has built a team of data scientists who remain the envy of the industry and set up the business for the next phase of its growth. We'd like to thank Simon for all his hard work and wish him well for the future'.

Web site: www.dunnhumby.com .