Tesco has confirmed this morning that it has hired City veteran Gerry Murphy as its new chair to replace John Allan, who stepped down after allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
Murphy says Allan is leaving Tesco with its business, management and Board “in great shape and fit for the future.”
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, says: “Murphy will step down from Tate & Lyle after over six years in the job as he moves to the UK’s leading supermarket. He boasts a wealth of experience in UK consumer businesses and is a well-known voice in the British press on related matters. Tesco’s interim chair Bryon Grote said Murphy was the ‘unanimous choice.’
“Last month Tesco’s CEO Ken Murphy said inflation remains ‘stubbornly high’ but it is past the peak while the supermarket reported an 8.2% jump in quarterly sales to £14.8 billion. Critics have argued that supermarkets and consumer goods giants have been ‘profiteering’ from food inflation as businesses pass on additional cost pressures to consumers in terms of higher prices. However, on Friday, Tesco cut prices for the second time in a number of weeks, lowering over 500 items in price in an attempt to attract customers amid the cost-of-living crisis and the increased price sensitivity among consumers. The goal is also for Tesco to preserve its dominant market share despite growing competition from the fiercely price competitive German discounters, Aldi and Lidl.”
