Patrick Cescau exits Tesco board in clear-out – to be replaced by Richard Cousins March 23, 2015 Patrick Cescau, the senior non-executive Tesco director who led the search for the supermarket's new chairman, is leaving the firm's board, confirming speculation of his departure. Cescau's departure comes after six years with the retailer – it was widely believed he would depart after a new chairman was named to clear the way for a [...]
Tesco takes over 21 superstores in £733m deal with British Land March 20, 2015 Tesco has sealed a £733m deal with British Land, in which the supermarket is taking back 21 of its superstores. The company says this will help it “strengthen its core UK business”. In exchange, British Land will take over Tesco's stake in three shopping centres, three retail parks and three standalone stores. These are currently [...]
Homebase snaps up former Tesco exec Echo Lu March 19, 2015 DIY chain Homebase has poaches its latest managing director from the embattled supermarket Tesco. Echo Lu, who was previously head of group business planning and insight at Tesco, will join on April 20. John Walden, chief executive of Home Retail Group, said. Echo has significant, broad-based retail experience both in the UK and the rapidly evolving [...]
Tesco share price slides as Sir Martin Sorrell confirms WPP’s Dunnhumby interest March 17, 2015 Sir Martin Sorrell, the boss of the world’s largest advertising group WPP, has confirmed the company is interested in buying Tesco’s data arm Dunnhumby. Speaking at the Media & Telecoms conference in London, Sorrell said he was interested in the business behind the supermarket’s Clubcard loyalty scheme which was essentially put up for sale in [...]
Tesco share price spikes as Dunnhumby sale speculation mounts March 16, 2015 Tesco shares spiked four per cent in afternoon trading amid mounting speculation of a potential sale of its lucrative data business Dunnhumby. A deal, which could be worth as much as £2bn to the supermarket according to analysts, is moving ahead, with WPP and a host of private equity firms vying for the data company [...]
Tesco’s Dunnhumby: Is Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP about to take a stake in the supermarket’s data business? March 15, 2015 Tesco could be about to sell off a majority stake in its data arm that was responsible for creating the Tesco Clubcard loyalty scheme. The world’s largest advertising firm, Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP, has made an offer for Tesco's Dunnhumby, Bloomberg reports. Tesco brought in Goldman Sachs in January to explore options for Dunnhumby as [...]
Grocery price war continues: Tesco’s rebound hurts Asda as Aldi reaches record market share March 10, 2015 Tesco's return to growth is stealing market share from Asda, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel. The sector as a whole is still hugely competitive: the grocery price war has driven supermarket deflation to a record level of 1.6 per cent for the 12 weeks to March 1. Kantar estimated that this had [...]
Tesco loses Harris + Hoole and Giraffe chief Michael Holmes amid Dave Lewis restructure March 9, 2015 Tesco has lost another senior executive, after the man in charge of its Harris + Hoole coffee shops and restaurant chain Giraffe stepped down. Chief executive of new food experiences Michael Holmes, the man behind Tesco’s strategy to offer dining experiences in-store in a bid to pull in customers, has fallen on the wrong side [...]
Tesco hires BP vice president Byron Grote March 4, 2015 BP director and vice president Byron Grote is joining Tesco's board as the troubled supermarket looks to bolster its financial experience. Grote, who has been at BP since it acquired Standard Oil of Ohio in 1987, joins the Tesco board on May 1 as a non-executive director. The grocer said he brought “extensive executive [...]
Warren Buffett annual letter for golden anniversary: Spin offs, successor CEOs and selling Berkshire Hathaway’s Tesco stake March 1, 2015 Warren Buffett has ruled out spinning off Berkshire Hathaway into separate businesses, revealed a successor has been chosen to fill his shoes and addressed the firm’s stake in Tesco which he previously called a “huge mistake”, in his annual letter to investors. This year celebrating the firm’s golden anniversary, Buffett's highly anticipated 14-page letter reminisced [...]