Aldi: Better London than Salzburg – One of the bosses of Aldi Süd is leaving
Better London than Salzburg – One of the bosses of Aldi Süd is leaving
Matthew Barnes, one of the two heads of international business at Aldi Süd, is leaving the company on February 1. During the pandemic, he set up his home office in London – and according to the report, wanted to keep this arrangement to a large extent. Apparently resistance.
DThe discounter Aldi Süd loses one of its two international bosses. Matthew Barnes is already going on February 1st. According to the company, the Brit Barnes wants to move his center of life back to London. “After five years of commuting weekly from the UK to Salzburg, Matthew has now decided to go back to living full-time with his family in the UK,” a spokeswoman said.
Barnes has been the dual leader of Aldi Süd with the German Thomas Ziegler since 2020. Their international headquarters are in Salzburg – primarily for tax reasons. Aldi Süd, on the other hand, has its roots in Essen.
Barnes and Ziegler have recently written primarily about making purchasing international in order to leverage economies of scale. Because of inflation, Aldi recently won customers in its home market of Germany against the supermarkets and also recently had tailwind on foreign markets. Aldi Süd is active in the USA and Australia, for example.
Apparently, the 49-year-old’s departure is mainly due to internal quarrels. According to “Manager Magazin”, which was the first to report on the personal details, Barnes did not want to permanently move his center of life to Salzburg. During the pandemic, he set up his home office in London – and according to the report, wanted to keep this arrangement to a large extent. Apparently resistance.
Barnes had been with Aldi Süd since 1997. As country manager in Great Britain, he is significantly expanding the market share and thus qualifies for the post of head of the above-mentioned coordination council, Aldi Süd’s highest international body. Barnes’ duties are now to be taken over by co-boss Ziegler. This war 2015 from the Funke media group, which is also based in Essen, is switched to Aldi Süd. This makes him one of the few career changers in top management.
Stefan Kopp is the head of Aldi Süd in Germany. In 2023 he wants to push the expansion of organic ranges, he recently told WELT AM SONNTAG. In addition, Aldi Süd advertises more than the separate sister company Aldi Nord with sustainable ranges.
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