Ryan McDonnell Named CEO of Lidl Great Britain as Christian Härtnagel Takes Over as CEO of Lidl Germany
GERMANY & GREAT BRITAIN - Lidl Great Britain (GB) recently announced that its current CEO Christian Härtnagel will be taking over the role of Chief Executive Officer of Lidl Germany, and Deputy CEO Ryan McDonnell has been promoted to CEO of Lidl GB.
“It feels special, both personally and professionally, to be given the opportunity to go back to the country where I started my career many years ago, and to take the helm of the biggest market in the Lidl family,” Härtnagel stated. “I’ve worked closely with Ryan for some time and have every faith in his ability to lead Lidl in Great Britain, and to build on the team’s fantastic track record in recent years. I feel very proud to leave the company in such capable and safe hands. Ryan and I are focused on delivering the best Christmas ever for our customers.”
Härtnagel has been with Lidl for over 18 years, five of which he served as CEO of Lidl GB. During his tenure, he also held several other key roles including his most recent position as Chief Operations Officer for Lidl Austria, where he was responsible for sales and operations, and Regional Director at Lidl Ireland. According to a press release, Härtnagel will now be moving to the role of CEO at Lidl Germany, the largest of the Lidl businesses, succeeding current Lidl Germany CEO and member of Lidl’s International Board, Matthias Oppitz.
Härtnagel will start in his new role on March 1, 2022, and Oppitz will take on a new international role on the Board. As Härtnagel dons a new hat, McDonnell will succeed him as Lidl GB CEO, effective February 1, 2022.
“Christian hands over a business built on strong foundations, and I’m incredibly excited to have the baton passed on to me,” McDonnell said. “I have worked at Lidl GB now for over six years, during which time we have seen our store estate, colleagues, and customer numbers grow exponentially. We couldn’t be in a better place as a business and I feel privileged to be taking us forward from here.”
McDonnell’s career at Lidl spans over 21 years. In 2015, the former Chief Commercial Officer of Lidl Ireland and Northern Ireland moved to Lidl GB as Chief Commercial Officer. He was promoted to his current role as Deputy CEO in 2021.
Cheers to an exciting Chief transition! Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow to find out how this executive shakeup will promote further growth both overseas and Stateside.
