Tesco’s London chief takes on Irish operations

The head of Tesco’s operations in the London region has been handed the task of revitalising the supermarket giant’s fortunes in Ireland.

Andrew Yaxley has been a Tesco employee for almost 14 years and is currently the managing director of the group’s London business. He was named yesterday as the new chief executive of Tesco Ireland.

Outgoing Tesco Ireland chief, Phil J Clarke, who is retiring after 40 years with the group, said: “Having guided the company through a challenging time, the business is fundamentally stronger with clearer value offers, an improved fresh food offering and a really compelling community agenda. I believe that now is the right time to hand over responsibility and that Andrew is absolutely the right person to lead Tesco Ireland forward.”

He said he could not have asked for a better way to end “a long and rewarding career” in Tesco “than having the opportunity to spend two years as CEO in Ireland”.

Mr Clarke should not be confused with his namesake, Philip A Clarke who left his role of Tesco group CEO last September. He succeeded current Irish divisional chairman, Tony Keohane as Tesco Ireland chief in May 2013; having previously led the group in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Japan.

Group CEO Dave Lewis paid tribute to the outgoing and incoming head of the Irish business.

“Over the last two years, despite challenging market circumstances, Phil has worked tirelessly to make Tesco Ireland a stronger business and I thank him for all his work. Phil will be succeeded by Andrew Yaxley, who has shown outstanding leadership and delivered an improved business performance in London over the last two years as managing director.”

Mr Yaxley will take over at Tesco Ireland next month.

Tesco’s market share in Ireland has been in steady decline for months. In its most recent set of figures, published during St Patrick’s week, leading consumer insights agency, Kantar Worldpanel said both Dunnes and SuperValu had significantly closed the gap on Tesco in Ireland.

The Kantar figures cover the 12 weeks to the beginning of March. They also showed that for a second consecutive measurement period, Tesco Ireland was the only player to see an annualised fall at the till in over-the-counter sales. The survey covers Tesco, SuperValu, Dunnes, Aldi and Lidl,

During the 12 weeks to the beginning of February, Tesco Ireland’s till sales fell by 2.1%, year-on-year. The annualised sales decrease, over the 12 weeks to the beginning of March, amounted to 3.7%.

Judging on those most recent figures, Tesco’s share of the Irish grocery market now stands at 25% (down by 1.4% year-on-year) while SuperValu controls 24.9% of the market, and Dunnes 23.4%; the latter two showing significant gains.

“Tesco remains Ireland’s leading supermarket. The challenge now facing the retailer is encouraging shoppers to buy more at the tills,” Kantar said recently.

Last month, Tesco described as speculative suggestions that hundreds of jobs were at risk at its Irish operations, as part of a larger group-wide cost- cutting initiative; adding that no plans were in place to close any stores here.

A spokesperson yesterday claimed that this situation has not changed in the meantime.