Terry Leahy - Europe's Most Admired Leader

Leahy was instrumental in turning Tesco around and making it the largest retailer in the UK with a market share of 29% in the UK grocery market as of January 2005 (Refer to Exhibit I for the market shares of major players in the UK's grocery market). In terms of global rankings by revenues in 2003, Tesco held sixth position, behind Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Home Depot, Metro, and Royal Ahold (Refer to Exhibit II for the top ten players in global retailing). Leahy had expanded Tesco's operations to include a wide range of businesses including finance, clothing, consumer durables, reaching areas which were hitherto not under the purview of food-retailers. Under Leahy's leadership, Tesco's revenues increased from £16.45 billion in the fiscal 1997-98 to £37.07 billion in the fiscal 2004-05.

Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen (Cohen) in 1919 using his bonus received from World War I army service. In 1924, Cohen bought a tea shipment from TE Stockwell. The first three letters of TE Stockwell and the first two letters of Cohen were used to form a brand 'TESCO.' The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in Edgware, London, and the first supermarket was opened in 1956 in Maldon, Essex. The first superstore was opened in 1968 in Crawley, West Sussex. Till the 1970s, several companies that Tesco had acquired like Victor Value had not been properly integrated. Moreover, Tesco's stores were small and ill-equipped.