intelligence

As he retires from the helm of Tesco, Sir Terry Leahy refl ects upon the retail giant’s global growth. Richard Northedge reports

ro Te ro Te d r

British retail groups from Marks & Spencer to Sainsbury have expanded into the US and then retreated. Yet the experience of

others did not deter Sir Terry Leahy from taking Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, across the Atlantic, although, like his rivals, he is fi nding it hard going. “We opened at an unfortunate time – right in the maelstrom of the economic problems in the western United States,” he explains. “It was right at the epicentre of the fi nancial crisis.” But he is redoubling his effort rather than running away and forecasts the American venture will break even in 2013. “Losses have peaked,” he says defi antly.

Leahy does not do defeat. He has

taken Tesco from groceries into clothes, insurance, electricals, petrol, travel, recorded music and fi lm, as well as offering its own internet and cell-phone services. The company’s 31 per cent share of the UK food market already means one pound in every seven spent in Britain passes through Tesco’s tills, but Leahy is now starting Tesco Bank to challenge the fi nancial giants further. He has also expanded into 14 other countries, from Europe to the Far East.

STORES IN 14 COUNTRIES, FROM EUROPE TO THE FAR EAST

TESCO HAS

Half Tesco’s 5,000 stores are outside the UK and it employs nearly 500,000 people. The company’s Florence & Fred clothing brand is already the market leader in Hungary and the Czech Republic. “Of the countries that we have gone into, we’ve reached number one or number two positions,” states Leahy.

ACROSS THE POND Except in the US that is. While Tesco has twice the market share of Wal-Mart’s Asda chain in the UK, it has been hard to win its share stateside. Leahy opened Tesco’s fi rst Fresh & Easy store in California in November 2007, with plans for 500 outlets stretching into Nevada and Arizona. But the start was late and slow, and before Leahy has reached even half of his new target of 400 shops he has started closing branches. “It’s not

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