Tesco chief resigns after turning the brand around
Tesco’s chief executive Dave Lewis will leave the Big 4 retailer next summer, an announcement that sent shock waves across the industry.
Tesco is currently the highest-ranking retailer in the FTSE 100 thanks to Lewis’ turnaround plan implemented shortly after his arrival in 2014.
At the time Tesco was facing a crisis following the million-pound accounting revelation and the horsemeat scandal of 2013. Lewis has said he’s stepping down as he has completed the job he was hired to do – returning Tesco to profitability.
And complete it he has. YouGov data shows that since Lewis’ appointment in 2014 Tesco has gone from strength to strength in terms of value and quality perception – two brand health metrics which had suffered during the scandals.
In 2014, Tesco’s Value score (a net measure of whether consumers think the brand represents good or poor value for money) was plus 8.6. This more than doubled by 2019, increasing by 10.9 points to plus 19.5.
In 2014, Tesco’s Value score was the lowest of the Big 4 with Asda leading the way with plus 24.9, followed by Morrisons (plus 19.3) and Sainsbury’s (plus 17.0).
By 2019, Tesco (plus 19.5) had caught up with Morrisons (plus 20.9) and Asda (plus 24.8).
Similarly, Tesco’s quality perception suffered greatly scoring a quality score of (plus 12.5) – massively lower than Sainsbury’s (plus 44.5) and Morrisons (plus 22.8).
By 2019, Tesco’s quality score (a net measure of whether consumers think the brand represents good or poor quality) has more than doubled to plus 26.1, only just behind Morrisons (plus 26.8).
These score changes demonstrate the immense success Lewis’ turnaround plan achieved in the five year period he was chief executive.
Tesco is now not only the most famous supermarket chain, liked by 70 per cent of Brits but is also the most popular place for Brits to shop for their groceries – 1 in 4 say Tesco is their main supermarket (25 per cent).
Next summer, Lewis will be replaced by Boots chief commercial officer Ken Murphy, and it’ll be his job to continue these successes while competing with the rising discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.
Main image: Getty