Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis to step down
Tesco has announced that its chief executive Dave Lewis is to leave the business after five years in the role.
He will be succeeded by Walgreens Boots Alliance chief commercial officer, Ken Murphy.
John Allan, Tesco chairman, said: “It is with regret that I have accepted the resignation of Dave Lewis as group chief executive of Tesco, who has decided that he wants to leave the business in the summer of 2020.
“Dave has done an outstanding job in rebuilding Tesco since 2014 and he continues to have unwavering support from the board. Some time ago, however, he indicated to me that he was considering the best time to hand over to a successor.”
Prior to his current role at Walgreens Boots Alliance, Murphy was chief operating officer at Boots. His previous experience also includes time working with Alliance Unichem.
Allan added: “Ken has values which align with our own, strong strategic and operating acumen, and is proven at the very top of a large and respected multinational retail group. I firmly believe we have the right person for the job.”
The news comes as Tesco reported that its pre-tax profit rose by 6.7% to £494 million in the six months to 24 August.
Lewis said: “Despite challenging external conditions we have delivered a very good start to the year. I’m very pleased to say that we have now delivered every element of the turnaround plan and from this position of strength, the transformation of our business continues at pace.”
Tesco is planning to open 750 Express stores in Thailand over the next three years and increase the rate of Express store expansion in the UK by opening 150 stores over the same period. It will also launch four new superstores in the UK and Ireland.
