Shirine Khoury-Haq is the chief executive officer of the Co-op Group – the first female chief executive in its 180-year history and the first from an ethnic minority background. Shirine was born in Beirut to a Palestinian father and a Turkish mother. Her father was a geophysicist who worked in the oil industry and his work took the family around the world. By the time Shirine was 12 she had lived on every continent except Antarctica, regularly having to adapt to very different schools and classmates. She studied for a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting and economics at the Australian National University in Canberra, while taking on a number of jobs to pay her way. In 1996 she joined the McDonald’s Corporation as a finance and operations manager and then joined IBM as an associate partner. In 2014 she was appointed chief operating officer for Lloyd’s of London and five years later she joined the Co-op as chief financial officer. She became the Group’s CEO in August 2022. Shirine lives in Cheshire with her husband and two daughters. DISC ONE: Jamaica Farewell - Harry Belafonte DISC TWO: Ya Talien Eljabal - Rola Azar DISC THREE: Better Together - Jack Johnson DISC FOUR: Fight the Power - Public Enemy DISC FIVE: Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang - Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg DISC SIX: Supermassive Black Hole - Muse DISC SEVEN: How Great Thou Art - Susan Boyle DISC EIGHT: Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of - U2 BOOK CHOICE: The Quran LUXURY ITEM: A photo frame CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: How Great Thou Art - Susan Boyle Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley
BBC sounds music Radio podcasts hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast.
Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island.
And for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
I hope you enjoy listening.
My castaway this week is the businesswoman Shereen Khoury Haq.
She's CEO of the cooperative group, the first female CEO and the first from an ethnic minority in its 180 year history.
The group faced numerous challenges when she took on the top job in 2022.
With disrupted supply chains, high inflation and a 920 million pound debt.
She's reduced that debt by 90% and is now looking to grow the business substantially.
But that progress has demanded difficult decisions, cost cutting and redundancies.
Change has been part of her life since early childhood.
She was born to a turkish mother and a palestinian father who was a geophysicist in the oil industry.
His work took the family around the world and by the time she was twelve she lived on every continent except Antarctica.
But in 1986, the price of oil crashed.
Her father lost his job and the familys fortunes became uncertain.
She was 14 and took on several jobs to put herself through university and achieve the stability she craved.
She says if everything around you is moving and changing, one has to be centered in oneself.
Which is why I chose from an early age to invest in myself, saved my money and set my goals.
I decided I was going to be my own anchor.
Shereen Koorihaq, welcome to Desert island Discs.