Checkout understands that Dermot Breen, Tesco Ireland's director of corporate affairs, is set to leave the retailer in the coming weeks.
Breen is understood to be taking a break from the retail trade, having worked at Tesco Ireland since 1997, alongside former Tesco Ireland chief executives Gordon Fryett and Tony Keohane, and current chief executive Philip J Clarke.
Checkout has also learned that Seamus Banim, head of communications at the retailer, is set to join ABP Ireland shortly.
Banim, who has worked at Tesco since 2006, is a former head of internal communications at Eircom, and also previously worked for Aer Lingus. While his exact position at ABP is as yet unknown, it is understood that he will be taking a communications role.
Christine Heffernan, the former Bord Gais head of communications is set to join Tesco in March. When contacted by Retail Intelligence, Tesco was unavailable for comment.
The departures follow, but are believed to be unrelated to, a disappointing Q3 for the retailer in Ireland, which saw its like-for-like sales fall 8.1%, following on from a 4.4% decline in Q2 and a 3.0% decline in Q1.
However, a trading statement covering the six week period over Christmas issued last week noted that the period saw "a better like-for-like sales performance than the third quarter across every market."
In its core UK market, like-for-like sales declined 2.4%, driven "primarily by a weaker grocery market, and also reflect the impact of a tougher comparative," Tesco said.
© 2013 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
