Asda colleague wins Women of the Future Award for Business

Alex triumphed in a category of stiff competition which included peers from UBS, Sky, TalkTalk and London Stock Exchange Group.

Now in their 11th year, Women of the Future Awards recognise the inspirational young female stars of today and tomorrow. Open to women aged 35 or under, the awards celebrate talent across categories including business, culture, media, technology, retail and more.

After graduating from university in 2011, Alex Newbould joined the pricing team at Asda. In the last five years, she has been promoted three times achieving the title of Senior Pricing Manager. Demonstrating her determination to progress through the ranks, Alex heads up the ten people strong pricing team as well as multiple agencies and is responsible for the creation and execution of Asda’s overall pricing strategy.

She is a great leader of people and has gained huge credibility and influence in the organisation through her use of data to drive business decisions and in delivering strategies that have resulted in change within the business. In 2015, Alex was handpicked to become a Culture Catalyst to support Asda’s culture, inclusion and diversity within the workplace.

After winning the award, the 27-year-old, from Country Durham, said: “The Women of the Future summit and awards were both inspirational and enlightening. I feel honoured to be part of such a fantastic program and network of people.
“I have to say a huge thank you to Asda who have supported me, both personally and professionally, over the last five years. The team are incredible and I am proud to be part of a business that’s culture and ethos centres around its colleagues.

“To win this award was completely unexpected but I’m immensely proud to have been recognised amongst some outstanding business women in the category. I spent the day and evening hearing from and speaking to incredible and inspirational women and men, and I’m delighted to be part of the ambassador program where I hope to be able to share my experiences with future women in business.”

Andrew Mann, Vice President of Customer insight, at Asda, said: “On behalf of Asda, I would like to congratulate Alex on her well-deserved award. This is an incredible achievement for a young woman who has already demonstrated her passion for the retail industry. Not only has she achieved incredible individual success, but it’s her dedication and commitment to her team that makes her a true role model in the business.

“At Asda, we are committed to supporting our young colleagues and Alex is a great example of the talent we have within the business.”

This award comes off the back of a series of award wins for Asda female colleagues. The past 18 months has seen Rukia Hussain, Fresh Replenishment & Production Manager, selected to become an everywoman Retail Ambassador, Tahira Widlof, General Store Manager at Asda Burnley, win the Chairman’s award at the Asian Women in Achievement Awards and Joanne Harrison, Days Warehouse Shift Manager won the 2015 Transport and Logistics Warehousing Award.

And in the last week Kerry Ashdown and Charlotte Hall have been featured on the Grocer’s top talent list for 2016.

Other winners from this year’s Women of the Future Awards, held at the London Hilton on Park Lane last night, included Chayya Syal, Broadcast Journalist at BBC who won the media category, Danielle Brown, Double Paralympic Gold medallist and International Award-winning Screenwriter and Film Producer Sheila Nortley, while presenters included award Patron Cherie Blair and Tania Bryer at CNBC.

ENDS