TUESDAY 6 AUGUST 2019

Business news in brief

Demand for new cars was the weakest in July since 2012 (PA)

M&S head of strategy to head up new Ocado venture

Ocado and Marks and Spencer have completed their £750m deal for the high street retailer to buy a 50 per
cent stake in the online supermarket’s UK retail business. The deal will see M&S’s strategy director,
Melanie Smith, become chief executive of the new business – Ocado Retail Limited – and current boss
Lawrence Hene will return to a “senior role” within the Ocado group, the companies said. Shareholders in
Ocado voted the deal through in May, with the new venture’s board made up of Ocado’s Tim Steiner and
Duncan Tatton-Brown, along with M&S chief Steve Rowe and its food boss Stuart Machin. PA

New car market declined 4.1% in July

Demand for new cars fell by 4.1 per cent last month in what was the weakest July market since 2012, the

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