Tesco’s Dave Lewis in video interview addresses management shake up speculation
Seven days into his tenure at Tesco, “Drastic Dave” Lewis has revealed how his “rollercoaster” first week in the new job went in a video posted on the supermarket’s YouTube channel.
The former Unilever executive who replaced Philip Clarke said he won't shy away from making a call on management changes but would not make decisions in haste.
Addressing widespread speculation about whether he would shake up the leadership team, Lewis said: "Will there be changes? Let's be honest, there has to be. We don't want the trend of our business to carry on. What the nature of those changes will be, you're just going to have to trust me for a while … I won't be making decisions hastily but I will, if I need to, change things. I will make those calls."
He once again said he would be doing a lot of listening within the business, echoing thoughts from his first day which he shared with staff in a letter.
Overall, he said the business needs to identify Tesco’s USP in order to regain market share, particularly in the UK.
“We need to offer an experience that is better than anyone else who operates in the marketplace we’re in – what that element is, we still need to work out… whether that be price, service or availability.”
The boss also revealed he shopped at Tesco before his appointment and was now trying all its products.
While he said changes wouldn’t be hasty, he appears to have already made one that’s received a thumbs up from one of his staff.
A commenter who claims to work for the retailer, wrote under the video:
It's easy to talk but we change reputation by doing’. Former CEO never, ever understood this. The one hasty decision he's already made is to give stores more much needed staff hours which is one of the main reasons customers were leaving dirty, poorly stocked stores run by a minimum of demoralised, badly trained, unhappy staff. I welcome Mr Lewis's comments and wish him all the very best. Many colleagues see this as a fresh start and want to do their best for him and their customers.
Watch the full interview.