International retailer Walmart has appointed Andy Clarke to be the new Chief Executive Officer at Asda, replacing Andy Bond with immediate effect.

Mr Bond will now become Chairman of Asda's Executive Committee in order to endure a smooth transition for Mr Clarke.

Mr Clarke has worked at Asda since 1992, working his way up from store manager until making it to Chief Operating Officer in 2007.

Mr Bond said, "I'm delighted to appoint Andy Clarke to be my successor. He was clearly the right choice from the internal and external candidates we considered. I'm looking forward to doing everything I can to ensure a smooth transition for Andy in his new role."

Doug McMillon, President and CEO of Walmart International, said, "At Walmart and at Asda, we have a robust succession planning and talent development process and Andy Clarke has long been identified as a leader. With his long career at Asda, working first as a store manager, followed by key roles in trading, as retail director and most recently as COO, Andy knows the company, our colleagues and he cares about our customers. He is the ideal person for the job and this will be a seamless leadership change."

Asda said that Mr Clarke would be leading the company's attempts to be the "clear number two" food retailer in Britain and the market leader in general merchandise. Asda is currently the second only to Tesco among British supermarkets, with 17 per cent market share.