Halfords boss poached by Tesco: Matt Davies says he’s gutted to leave the firm January 21, 2015 Matt Davies, you can tell, is squirming in his seat at being asked about his new role at Tesco during a call for Halfords’ trading update. “I am genuinely gutted to be leaving Halfords,” Davies explains. “It was absolutely not in my script to be leaving. But when I was approached by Tesco and given [...]
Tesco said to shortlist Sir Ian Cheshire and John Allan for its new chairman January 21, 2015 Tesco is said to have drawn-up a shortlist for the appointment of its new chairman, as it prepares to bounce back with a turnaround plan following a hefty profit overstatement. The UK's biggest supermarket chain is said to be choosing between Sir Ian Cheshire, who recently left home improvement retailer Kingfisher, and John Allan, the [...]
Ex Tesco-chief Sir Terry Leahy: Supermarket suffered “failure of leadership” under Philip Clarke January 19, 2015 The man widely credited with turning Tesco into Britain's biggest supermarket chain has criticised his successor, saying there was a "failure of leadership." "People tried very hard to do the right thing, it clearly has not worked," former chief executive Sir Terry Leah said in an interview to be broadcast on the BBC's Panorama programme tonight. "In [...]
Tesco share price rises as much as two per cent after Morgan Stanley upgrades it to “overweight” January 19, 2015 Tesco's share price rose as much as two per cent after its turnaround plan was given the thumbs-up by Morgan Stanley, which upgraded it to "overweight" from "equal weight" this morning. The embattled retailer's ability to improve its profit margins is being underestimated by the market, according to analysts at the investment bank. "We believe [...]
Ex-Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy backing staff discounts app Work Angel January 18, 2015 Former Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy is reportedly leading a £3.3m funding round for smartphone startup Work Angel. Work Angel helps firms retain and reward staff with discounts and deals via a smartphone app. It was founded by serial entrepreneur Jamie True, who made an estimated £15m from the sale of his mobile app [...]
Tesco boss Dave Lewis given dressing down over “toxic culture” as he pulls controversial plans for Ealing Green store January 16, 2015 Tesco has pulled its plans for a controversial new store on Ealing Green – despite it not being on the list of those dropped under Dave Lewis' new strategy. But that still hasn't stopped the new chief executive coming in for a dressing down by an angry campaigner over Tesco's “toxic culture”, claiming [...]
Tesco tells a third of senior directors they face redundancy or demotion as Dave Lewis’ restructure begins to bite January 16, 2015 Tesco has started warning senior directors that they face redundancy or demotion, as part of a restructure designed to get the supermarket back on track. Around a third of these key decision-makers have been told by Tesco top brass that they face redundancy or “changed responsibilities at a lower work level”, according to [...]
Tesco poaches Waitrose ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty to aid turnaround January 15, 2015 Advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has quit working with Waitrose and moved across to help Tesco rebuild consumer trust in its brand. The supermarket’s chief executive Dave Lewis also confirmed the appointment of consultancy firm Blue Rubicon. “We are assembling a small team of world class advisers to work on the turnaround of our [...]
Tesco share price up as Bill Ackman reveals interest January 14, 2015 Troubled supermarket Tesco bucked the general FTSE downward trend yesterday, with its shares up by 0.94 per cent at the close. The group may have benefited from Bill Ackman’s interest in its shares. The Pershing Square founder and chief executive told Bloomberg TV yesterday that he had looked at investing in Tesco, although ultimately decided [...]
Standard & Poor’s cuts Tesco to junk January 14, 2015 Standard & Poor's (S&P) today downgraded Tesco to junk status, suggesting the ratings agency is unconvinced by the turnaround strategy unveiled by new chief executive Dave Lewis last week. The grocer's senior long-term credit rating was lowered to BB+ from BBB-. It is unlikely to go any lower than this however, with S&P saying the [...]