Waitrose's Nathan Ansell named as the next Advertising Association President

The Chief Customer Officer succeeds Andria Vidler next spring, keeping the industry's most visible role on the client side.

Jul 14, 2026

The Advertising Association has appointed Nathan Ansell, Chief Customer Officer at Waitrose, as its next President. Ansell joins the AA Council this month as President-Elect and takes the chair in spring 2027, when Andria Vidler completes her tenure.

The president-elect structure gives Ansell the better part of a year inside the organisation before he assumes the role, a longer runway than Vidler received; she was announced in February 2025 and installed on 1 March.

The client side keeps the chair

Alessandra Bellini was Tesco’s Chief Customer Officer when she took the post in 2022. Vidler arrived from Allwyn UK, operator of The National Lottery. With Ansell confirmed, two of the AA’s three most recent presidents will have been supermarket customer chiefs, and all three have come from the advertiser side of the membership. When the AA, a body that also represents media owners, agencies and trade associations, makes its case to government, it wants the argument fronted by the people who buy the advertising.

As President, Ansell will work with Chief Executive Stephen Woodford to lead a council of industry leaders drawn from media owners, agencies, brands and trade bodies. The association’s priority workstreams include building public trust through its Value of Trust campaign, supporting recruitment and retention through All In, and climate action through Ad Net Zero. The President also fronts the AA’s engagement with government and its push to grow UK advertising exports.

Stephen Woodford, Chief Executive of the Advertising Association

Woodford said: “Firstly, I would like to thank Andria for her continued outstanding leadership and commitment during her time as President. She is helping to guide our work at a vital moment for the industry, championing responsible advertising and its contribution to economic growth, and emphasising the need to build public trust, inclusion, and sustainability into everything we do.

“I am delighted to welcome Nathan as our President-Elect to succeed Andria next spring. He is one of the UK’s most respected customer and marketing leaders, with exceptional experience across retail, FMCG, agencies and brand transformation. He is a champion of brand-led growth, with a deep understanding of consumers, data-led insight and responsible business and will be a huge asset to the Advertising Association and to our members as we continue to demonstrate the value of responsible advertising to the UK economy and society.”

Regulation has filled the in-tray

Ansell inherits a policy agenda that has thickened through Vidler’s term. Restrictions on less healthy food and drink advertising came into force in January after repeated delays; advertisers are still absorbing the compliance costs across TV and paid online media. The government’s industrial strategy identifies the creative industries as a growth sector, giving the AA a door to push through. On AI, from synthetic content to automated buying, neither government nor industry has settled its position.

Public trust, tracked by the association’s think tank, Credos, remains the foundation on which every other argument rests. The AA’s pitch to ministers has stayed constant throughout: advertising drives growth well beyond its own borders, and restricting it carries costs the Treasury should count.

“I am looking forward to stepping into the role of President at the Advertising Association from next spring. It is a tremendous honour to be appointed, and having seen first-hand the transformative impact that responsible advertising can have on businesses and communities, I am eager to collaborate with our members to build on the fantastic work already underway. Together, we will lead our efforts in promoting a more trusted, inclusive, and effective advertising landscape that delivers real value for everyone and demonstrates the essential contribution our industry makes to the UK economy.”

Nathan Ansell, incoming president of the Advertising Association

“It is a privilege to serve as President of the Advertising Association and to work alongside Stephen, the AA team and members from across the industry. Advertising plays a powerful role in building trusted relationships with people and supporting growth for businesses and the wider economy. Nathan brings impressive customer, commercial and brand expertise to the AA, and I look forward to working with him as he prepares to take over the role.”

Andria Vidler, outgoing president of the Advertising Association

Waitrose form travels with him

Ansell sits on the Waitrose management board with responsibility for the supermarket’s end-to-end customer strategy, spanning communications, loyalty, content, creative direction, store development and digital execution. He rejoined the business in 2023 as Customer Director, 25 years after his first retail role there, and was promoted to Chief Customer Officer in 2025. His earlier career included senior roles at Marks & Spencer, House 337, Heinz, Birds Eye Iglo and Red Bull. At Waitrose, he has overseen the Christmas campaigns Sweet Suspicion and The Perfect Gift and expanded the Dish podcast. He sits on the ASA’s Industry Advisory Panel and appears regularly in Campaign’s Power 100.

The presidency is a figurehead role. Woodford’s team runs the machinery; the President opens doors in Westminster and sets the tone of the industry’s public argument. What Ansell cannot control is the shape of the industry he will speak for. Consolidation among the holding companies is redrawing the agency side of the AA’s membership, and AI is unsettling the economics of the media owners who sit alongside them. A government prepared to regulate advertising category by category shows no sign of stopping. The industry Ansell fronts in spring 2027 may not much resemble the one that appointed him this week.