ABF confirms Eoin Tonge as permanent Primark CEO

Associated British Foods has announced the permanent appointment of chief executive with immediate effect, ending his year-long stint as interim leader.

Tonge joined ABF as group finance director in April 2023, having previously served as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer at Marks & Spencer, and held senior roles at Greencore. He will continue to sit on the ABF board.

ABF chief executive George Weston said the changes Tonge had implemented were “already having a tangible benefit in a challenging environment.”

In a separate appointment, Filip Ekvall has been named to a newly created role of chief commercial officer, joining on September 1. Ekvall brings nearly two decades of international clothing retail experience, the majority of it at H&M Group, where he rose to global director of sales overseeing around 4,000 stores. He has most recently been chief executive of outdoor retailer BRAV. The new CCO role will bring together Primark’s product, retail, digital and customer functions under one remit.

ABF also confirmed the appointment of Joana Edwards as group chief financial officer, ending her tenure as interim finance chief, which began last March.

Edwards, who joined ABF in 2020 as group financial controller, brings more than 30 years of international finance experience to the role, with a background spanning FMCG and retail across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before ABF, she held senior positions at L’Oréal. 

She will join the ABF board as an executive director with immediate effect.

Weston said Edwards had demonstrated “rigour in the execution of her role and a passion for building high performing teams” during the past 12 months, adding that her experience would be “invaluable” as the group pursues long-term sustainable growth.

Edwards said: “I am thrilled to be appointed CFO. During my time at ABF, I have worked closely with our teams across the business and have seen first-hand the strength of our portfolio, the resilience of our model and the depth of talent we have across the organisation.”

Edwards she would focus on “disciplined capital allocation, cost management and cash generation” while ensuring investment is directed towards areas of greatest strategic potential.