Phil Clarke leaves Tesco after approximately four decades with the retailer, joining as a shelf-stacker at the age of 15, and rising through the ranks to become chief executive of several of its international businesses, most recently Ireland.
He was a store manager by the age of 20; a regional director for South East England in his 30s and a CEO by his 40s. His life, both career and personal, have been forged with the retailer - he met his wife Tina in Tesco.
Commenting on his retirement, Dave Lewis, Group CEO, said, “After an exemplary career with Tesco, Phil J. Clarke will retire from Tesco and his role as CEO in Ireland in April.
"Phil joined Tesco as a 15 year old in 1974, became a store manager at 20, and rose to take on several of our most important international roles including CEO of our businesses in Slovakia and Czech Republic, Japan and more recently in Ireland.
"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.” Clarke himself commented, “I could not have asked for a better way to end what has been a long and rewarding career in Tesco than having the opportunity to spend two years as CEO in Ireland. 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. I wish him the very best in his new role.”
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
