CEO Outlook: Growing good business with Noel Keeley, Musgrave Group

In this episode of The EY CEO Outlook Podcast, Noel Keeley, CEO of Musgrave Group, tells host Richard Curran about his rise to the top of Ireland’s number one grocer, his views on consumer behaviour and how they are changing, and why Musgrave Group’s company values are so important to the group’s success.
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For Noel Keeley, CEO of Musgrave Group, the basics of retailing are simple: “Give people what they want, when they want it, at a price they’re willing to pay”. And while so much has changed in retail, particularly as a result of COVID-19, Keeley believes that this fundamental approach will never change.  

It was a lesson that he learned as a teenager while working for a number of years in his local supermarket in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. And despite at the time having no intention to continue his career in the retail sector, today Keeley finds himself running the country’s leading supermarket, SuperValu, applying that same simple approach.  

They also discuss: 

·    How Musgrave Group, an indigenous family-run organisation, successfully competed against the international multiples 

·    Balancing consumers’ desire for quality locally-sourced food but at an affordable price 

·    Keeley’s views on out-of-town retail development and why he wants to bring shops to people, not people to shops 

·     His vision for the store of the future – experiences, solutions over products, and theatre 

·     Overcoming the challenges of Brexit.