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Asda's Company Secretary to speak at Leeds Beckett
Alex Simpson, General Counsel, Company Secretary and Grocery Suppliers Code of Practice (GSCOP) Officer at Asda, will be evidencing how important governance is to any business in an increasingly competitive environment in the final instalment of the Leeds Business School Guest Speaker Series, sponsored by Yorkshire Bank,
In his role, Alex leads a dedicated and professional team of colleagues that includes lawyers, corporate affairs, corporate ethics and enterprise risk professionals across Asda, George and IPL (the UK’s biggest produce supplier) to legally secure commercial opportunity and successfully manage risk.
Paul Houghton, Principal Lecturer in Accounting, Finance and Economics at Leeds Beckett, said: “Alex is well-placed to deliver a lecture on governance having worked at a senior level in the sector for many years. We are very lucky to have him hold the last talk in what has been an incredible series. I look forward to hearing Alex on May 10 and also to next year’s series which will once again feature the very best business people to inspire our students and the local community.”
A student at Queen’s University, Belfast and Trinity College Dublin, Alex completed his legal training at the College of Law before practicing as a Corporate Lawyer at Walker Morris, advising blue chip and FMCG companies on all aspects of corporate law.
Prior to joining Asda, Alex was Group Commercial Lawyer at Northern Foods plc (now 2 Sisters Food Group), a leading UK food manufacturer supplying branded and private label products to major UK grocery retailers.
Asda is the UK’s second largest food retailer serving around 19m customers each week. It is also part of Walmart, a global company that employs 2.2m associates with annual sales of $473bn.
The annual Leeds Business School Guest Speaker series has seen some of the region’s top business leaders, including Tom Riordan, Chief Executive of Leeds City Council, and John Timpson, Chairman of Timpson Ltd, explore subjects as diverse as ‘Devolution, The Northern Powerhouse and the Region’ to ‘Upside Down Management’.
Simon Wright, Regional Director, Business and Private Bank at Yorkshire Bank, added: "Once again, this has been an excellent and varied speaker series. It has provided information and ideas which have benefited the many attendees, and through them, the wider community.
“Leeds Beckett University's reputation and standing in the community is such that it is able to continue drawing such high quality speakers and we are honoured to be involved.”