Tesco shares dropped by 2.3% on the stock market when it was announced that Sir Terry Leahy is to retire early next year. He has been in charge of the supermarket for the last 13 years and will be replaced by the current international and IT director Philip Clarke.
When he took over, Tesco was roughly the same size as Sainsbury with just over 20% of the market share - it now has over 30%, making it easily the UK's biggest supermarket chain.
When he took over, Tesco was roughly the same size as Sainsbury with just over 20% of the market share - it now has over 30%, making it easily the UK's biggest supermarket chain.
Some interesting facts and figures about his time in charge:
- The number of Tesco stores has risen from 568 in 1997 to 2482 in 2010
- Tesco has stores in China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, Poland, the Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey and the US.
- Pre-tax profits have risen from £750 million in 1997 to £3176 million in 2010 - up 10% on the previous year.
- Sales
- It now offers a lot more than just groceries - it now offers insurance, broadband internet, credit cards and even Child Trust funds.
- Tesco's employs approximately 500,000 people worldwide with about 250,000 employed in the UK alone.
- Tesco now has 20 million active members of its Clubcard customer loyalty scheme.
However, Tesco has come under fire from campaign groups who have become increasingly concerned about its dominant position in the UK marketplace. It has been investigated by the Office of Fair Trading on accusations of squeezing suppliers and buying up land to stop rivals building on it. These have on occasions been referred to the Competition Commission. Concern has also been raised about the growth in "Tesco Towns" where in relatively small cities, Tesco has a huge percentage of the market.
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