Board reshuffle as Tesco CEO announces retirement plans
Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of supermarket chain Tesco, has announced his intention to retired in March 2011, which will see Phillip Clarke take up the role alongside other movements on the board.
Leahy will retire after 14 years in the role, with Clarke, currently responsibile for the group’s international operations in Asia and Europe as well as group IT, set to succeed him having joined the company’s board in 1998.
Sir Terry said: ‘When I became CEO I had a plan to build Tesco around its customers, to make it number one in the UK and to find new long term growth in non-food, in services and in international expansion. I wanted to develop a purpose and values that could sustain Tesco through its challenges and encourage and grow future leaders. It has taken 14 years but that strategy has become a firm reality now and so I feel my work is almost complete.”
He continued: “I am delighted Phil Clarke has accepted the role of CEO from March 2011. I have worked with Phil at Tesco for many years and I am confident he has all the necessary talent, energy and experience to take the group forward. He will be supported by an outstanding team of senior executives who together represent one of the strongest leadership teams in the world of retailing.
“There is no better job than leading Tesco and after retirement I will concentrate mainly on private investment. I will, of course, keep a large shareholding in Tesco and remain its biggest supporter,” he concluded.
Other moves set to take place at board level in March will see Tim Mason, president and CEO of Tesco’s US business Fresh & Easy, made deputy CEO of Tesco and given addition group responsibility for branding, values and climate change.
Mason will continue to be based in the US.
David Potts, retail and logistics director in the UK and Ireland, will become the first CEO of the company’s growing Asia business, while commercial director Richard Brasher will assume the newly-created role of CEO of the UK business and take responsibility for the Republic of Ireland.
All other board members will continue in their current roles.