Having just handed over the day-to-day running of pharmaceuticals company UCB, Georges Jacobs is taking up the chairmanship of another Belgian blue-chip group, upmarket food retailer Delhaize.

Mr Jacobs, one of the country's best-known executives, becomes Delhaize chairman following the retirement of Gui de Vaucleroy after a 45-year career at the supermarket chain, which has 2,500 stores across nine countries.