Andy Rigby to step down as East of England Co-op CEO

After four years leading the independent retailer, Andy Rigby has announced he will step down as CEO early next year. His tenure is marked by a notable financial turnaround, including an £8 million increase in underlying trading profit achieved through three consecutive years of growth across the firm's 200 locations.

Rigby, who has spent 45 years in the retail sector, stated that his decision comes at a time of stability for the organization. He will remain in his post for several months to assist the board of directors in the search for his successor. Reflecting on his time with the co-operative, Rigby highlighted the development of a unified company culture and a commitment to local communities as his proudest achievements.

While the search for a new leader begins, the business is finalizing a significant infrastructure upgrade. The retailer recently deployed TNS Secure SD-WAN across its estate to resolve network stability issues that previously caused 90-second failover delays during point-of-sale transactions. Richard Helliwell, Head of Technology Services, noted that this shift to a resilient, managed network has already eliminated visible downtime and generated operational savings of 10–15%. With these technical foundations in place, Rigby leaves behind a robust platform intended to support the co-operative’s 3,000 colleagues and its ongoing digital innovation.