Discount grocer Lidl has drafted in the former managing director of its German operation Frank-Michael Mros to head up its UK division.

Mros grabbed the headlines in April when he stood down from his post in Germany, following the scandal surrounding the company after it collected and stored data on employees’ medical records. He is to replace Marcel Oosterwijk, who has returned to the grocer’s operation in Holland as managing director.

A Lidl spokesman said Mros is “very experienced, with 14 years’ experience at Lidl”. He insisted that Mros was not dismissed after the furore in Germany, but instead “took responsibility for what happened as the MD for the country and made the decision to step down from his position”.

Lidl – which this week launched a series of price cuts to celebrate its 15th anniversary in the UK – is renowned for its secrecy.

The grocer was fined last month €36,000 (£31,472) by the Information Commissioner for the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia after it found that at least four Lidl stores in the region had been collecting and storing information on employees’ medical conditions on specially produced forms.

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