Retail guru leaves the firm he helped to float
ANDREW Bracey, who is leaving the world of online grocery shopping to join recruiter Michael Page, has been Ocado’s chief financial officer since November 2009.
Prior to Ocado, he was head of consumer and retail investment banking at Jefferies International, with an 18-year career in investment banking and private equity behind him.
After studying at the University of East Anglia and taking an MA in history of architecture at Magdalene College, Cambridge, Bracey began his career at UBS in 1991. At the bank, he ran the retail team in corporate finance and advised several retail companies including Dairy Farm and Somerfield.
Bracey spent three years at Credit Suisse as managing director in the investment banking division, before joining Barclays Capital in 2003. As managing director, principal investments, he undertook a number of significant investments, including Alliance Boots.
Bracey, 44, was part of the Ocado team that proposed its controversial flotation at 180p in July 2010, and he intends to keep a close eye on the firm’s progress.
He bought into the shares heavily in the weeks after the flotation in 2010, accumulating much of his holding of 820,000 at 150p. Bracey said he plans to keep his share holding – and added that Ocado can look forward to “an exciting growth trajectory” without him.