The board of Ocado is on the hunt for a successor to its founder and chief executive, Tim Steiner, as the e-commerce group faces up to a rapidly falling share price.

The FTSE 250 firm, which offers online shopping and warehouse automation services, confirmed on Monday that it is searching for a replacement for its long-serving chief.

Steiner jointly founded the group in 2000 and later led its float in 2010. The stock debuted at 180p, but its shares have shed a fifth of their value in the last year, returning close to the original price of 181p.

The search for a successor to Steiner is being led by Adam Warby, Ocado’s chairman, who formerly led the headhunter Heidrick & Struggles.

The board has already approached Niklas Heuveldop, the chief executive of Vonage, a subsidiary of Swedish telecoms firm Ericsson, for the top job, as reported by Sky News.

The firm said on Monday morning: “Ocado confirms that the CEO and the Board continually engage in long-term succession planning and regularly engage with potential candidates.”

In recent years, Ocado has focused on providing robotic technology services to be used in the warehouses of leading retailers and supermarkets.

But the firm’s recent struggles were exacerbated in November, when the group’s US partner, Kroger, announced the closure of three of its warehouses using Ocado’s equipment.

Ocado’s share price shed 17-per-cent in one day, to 179p, plummeting to a 12-year low. 

In February, the group’s shares shed 10 per cent after it warned of “significant” job cuts and said it is on the hunt for new partners following Kroger’s departure.

Steiner said Ocado was “naive” to accept contracts from its North American partners, adding: “We can help them […] but we need our partners, having made a commitment to a site, to work very hard to put volume into that site.”

Ocado boosted by Asda deal

Steiner, who owns two per cent of Ocado, founded the group with two former Goldman Sachs colleagues as an online grocer, before repositioning the firm as a warehouse technology company.

The firm also provides home delivery services to supermarkets, including Marks and Spencer, and announced last month that it had struck a deal to upgrade Asda’s online shopping arm.

Steiner also serves as chair of Ocado Retail, the group’s partnership with Marks and Spencer. 

The group is in dispute with the up-market grocer over the terms of this agreement, after Ocado threatened to take legal action over a £190m payment which it said was being upheld by Marks and Spencer.