Boardroom vet to take charge of Tesco board

THE CITY grandee who took aim at Rishi Sunak for self-defeating tax hikes will soon take up the chairman’s role at the country’s biggest grocer, Tesco.

Burberry chair Gerry Murphy, who took the Prime Minister to task at a recent conference for scrapping the VAT exemption for foreign tourists, will replace predecessor John Allan at the helm of Tesco’s boardroom in September.

Allan resigned after misconduct allegations, only one of which was proven and for which he apologised, were aired by the Guardian newspaper earlier this year.

Tesco made “no findings of wrongdoing” against Allan but the former chair said the supermarket had found the easiest thing to do when the allegations were made was to “propel (me) under the nearest bus.” Murphy, who also chairs Tate & Lyle but will give up that role, said he was “delighted” to take the chairman’s job at Tesco.

“I’m fully committed to helping Ken (Murphy, CEO) and the Tesco team deliver on this purpose and very excited about the strategic opportunities for growth across the Tesco group,” he said.

“I also want to pay tribute to my predecessor, John Allan, whom I have known for many years. John has left Tesco with its business, management and board in great shape and fit for the future.”

He will take the role with the nation’s grocers under a degree of pressure for passing on supply chain price hikes to customers during the recent inflationary spike.

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GERRY MURPHY

£ DRINK TO THAT Murphy’s career began in various roles at what is now Diageo, then Grand Metropolitan. A host of sales roles led him to time in the US and then to the MD chair in London for Pillsbury.

£ THE BIG CHAIR Murphy became CEO of Greencore Group, the Irish convenience food producer, turning it around after a c-suite scandal. He moved to London to run Exel, now DHL Logistics, before taking on the top job at Carlton Communications

£ PUBLIC TO PRIVATE Murphy ran Kingfisher, owner of B&Q amongst others, before switching to private equity as Blackstone’s senior managing director for private equity and serving as chairman of the Blackstone Group International Partners LLP from 2009 to 2019. He has helmed Tate & Lyle’s board room since 2017, and Burberry’s since 2018.