North West Company Fund announced at its annual and special meeting of June 11 that financial services executive Sandy Riley will succeed Ian Sutherland as chairman.

Sutherland, a founding director of North West, will remain as a trustee. He had been chairman of North West for 11 years and prior to that was CEO of North West for three and a half years.

In announcing his decision to step down, Sutherland noted: “Sandy has a wealth of management and governance experience which will help guide North West in the next phase of our development. Sandy has been a director or trustee of North West for the past five years and has widely acknowledged skills as a corporate and community leader. He is president and CEO of Richardson Financial Group and past chairman and CEO of Investors Group Inc.”

“The North West Company is one of Canada’s great companies,” said Riley. “I am very proud to have been associated with it for the past five years and, in my new position, I look forward to working with the company’s very capable management team and the rest of the Trustees as we continue to build this uniquely Canadian success story.”

In addition to Riley’s significant corporate experience, he has and continues to be extensively involved in community activities and is currently Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg.

The North West Company is a leading retailer of food and everyday products and services in Canada, Alaska, the South Pacific and the Caribbean. North West operates 221 stores under the trading names Northern, NorthMart, Giant Tiger, AC Value Center and Cost-U-Less and has annualized sales of approximately $1.3 billion.