Sir Terry Leahy: Tesco's master tactician

Sir Terry Leahy, Tesco's boss, is to quit after 14 years at the top, and in Philip Clarke he has appointed a 'mini-me' as his successor.

The puritan in Sir Terry Leahy seems to have relished the austere welcome dished out to visitors to his Cheshunt head quarters. After journeying into "the indeterminate hinterland" just outside London, you walk a few hundred yards to an industrial estate, which "announces itself with a garage offering MOT testing and repairs", says Dominic Lawson in The Independent. Just beyond looms Tesco's low-slung concrete block. "It's not exactly how you would expect to find the boss of the world's third largest retailer."

With a typical lack of fuss, Leahy has announced the end of a revolutionary 14-year stint leading Tesco, claiming that "my work is almost complete". It's hard to quibble with that, says the FT. A 341% increase in group operating profit and global sales of £62bn speak for themselves. But "the true measure of a successful succession will be if those who follow Sir Terry overshadow him".

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