Shirine Khoury-Haq

Shirine Khoury-Haq (born 1971) is a British and Australian business executive, who was chief executive officer of The Co-operative Group from 2022 to 2026, overseeing a period of transformation. Prior to joining the Co-op in 2019, she was COO of Lloyd's of London. to a Palestinian father and Turkish mother. Her father worked in the oil industry, so they lived in several countries growing up. She is a US Certified Public Accountant. She has a postgraduate diploma in management from the University of the West of England in Bristol. and was based in the US for three years, followed by six years in the UK. as chief financial officer and head of the life services division, which sells insurance and provides funeral care and legal services. Co-op Legal Services also invested in artificial intelligence to accelerate probate administration, enabling cases to be resolved more quickly.

In 2025, Khoury-Haq led the organisation through a malicious cyber attack in which an attempt to deploy malware was thwarted but the data of 6.5 million members was stolen. An open letter from Khoury-Haq was featured in the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) 2025 annual review. Following the attack, the Co-op Group reported a pre-tax loss of £126 million for the 2025 financial year. Over the same period, membership grew by 17% to 7.2 million and quick commerce grew by 15%. By the first quarter of 2026, every business in the Co-op portfolio had regained or exceeded its pre-cyber attack market share. In 2025, Co-op reported that security technology and police partnerships contributed to a 21% reduction in retail crime across its estate and a fall of more than 30% in assaults on colleagues.

On 26 March 2026, the Co-op announced that Khoury-Haq would step down as CEO. The announcement followed BBC News reporting of an alleged "toxic culture" among the group's senior leadership. The Co-operative Group responded to allegations reported by BBC News and stated that claims did not reflect the views of its leadership or workforce.

Public activities Khoury-Haq has participated in government and advisory initiatives. She co-chaired the UK Government's Net Zero Council under both Conservative and Labour governments, was on the UK Government's Women's Business Council, and participated in the Royal Foundation's Early Childhood Business Taskforce.

In 2024, Khoury-Haq was included in the Kindness & Leadership “50 Leading Lights UK” list. In 2025 she was ranked first in PR Week's UK Business Communicators of the Year and placed at the top of INvolve's HEROes global list for breaking down barriers for women. In the same year, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of the West of England.

Personal life Khoury-Haq has twin daughters. In 2022, she told The Sunday Times that each of her children would receive a single Christmas gift in solidarity with people experiencing financial difficulties. She lives in Cheshire, England.