Teenager in bid to become chief executive of Nisa Retail

His cousin Raza Rehman also joined the board and the pair are said to have gathered more supporters among the non-executive team.

Aslam, from Fife, Scotland, has previously worked as a youth board director at B&Q and is now studying for a law degree at Abertay University, Dundee as well as a part time Master of Arts degree at the University of St Andrews.

He already runs three shops in the Fife area with Rehman and plans to take over six post offices.

The pair have seen their turnover more than double from £1.2million to £3million in recent years. Aslam hopes to drive it up to £5million.

Aslam believes Nisa, which boasts sales of £1.6 billion, needs someone “young and passionate to take the business forward”.

He accepts his age and inexperience may worry some members but believes others want a leader with fresh ideas.

He told The Sunday Times : “Two years ago there was criticism when I applied for the [nonexecutive] role.

“I was against three other applicants who had a lot more experience, but the membership chose me. It wasn't by a small majority, it was a clear majority.

“The membership is passionate for change. We've already delivered a lot of change within the business since my appointment.”

Nisa faces a challenging 12 months with Amanda Jones, chief operating officer, also announcing her departure to become chief operating officer at Conviviality Retail.

The food and drink supplier’s biggest customer Costcutter ended its 27-year partnership with Nisa in July and signed a deal with a rival wholesaler, Palmer and Harvey, swiping £500million in sales from Nisa’s accounts.

The retailer recovered some of its losses by agreeing a new deal with McColls and persuading a number of Costcutter members to resume their relationship.

Traditional convenience stores are also under pressure from supermarket chains who have been expanding by establishing smaller shops such as Sainsbury’s Local and Tesco Express throughout the country.

But Aslam believes Nisa has a “massive opportunity” to dominate the convenience sector with its unique mutual model, in which each member can buy up to 250 shares, each of which carries a vote for board appointments.

He said: “I've got a vision of where I want the business to be in five years — £2bn turnover and beyond, united, unified and harnessing the talent we have got with the existing membership.

"What I really want to harness is that entrepreneurial spirit from the existing membership.”

Chris Baker, Nisa’s chairman, is expected to employ headhunters to seek out the best candidates to replace Turton.

Nisa said anyone could apply for the role but added: “When push comes to shove, we have a robust process in place with an executive search firm.

"It's going to be someone who's suitably experienced and with a very strong background in executive level management who will get the position."

Aslam said his application would follow the normal recruitment process.

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