CEO of Tesco delivers lecture
15 March 2010
The Chief Executive of Tesco, Sir Terry Leahy, last week delivered the inaugural lecture in the new LJMU Business School guest lecture series.
The event took place at the Art & Design Academy and was a great success, with over 300 students and invited guests enjoying Sir Terry’s entertaining lecture.
Sir Terry’s stewardship at Tesco has seen it develop from a budget-based UK retailer to the multi-billion global empire it is today. He has personally championed many of the innovations in retailing we now take for granted; own label, different store types and loyalty schemes. He has propelled Tesco to become the third largest global retailer, admired by all for its innovation, with growth into emerging markets still the priority.
During his rare public talk, Sir Terry, born and bred in Liverpool, gave a brief history of Tesco, explaining how in 1993 the supermarket was worth approximately half the value of top rivals Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer, and outlining how now, by comparison, Tesco is worth approximately five times as much as both of them independently.
He also talked about LJMU, commenting: “The University should be very proud of its contribution to the regeneration of the city of Liverpool,” adding: “I think the recession is now ending. It will take a while for the employment market place to recover but I’m sure that it will recover and coming into that market place as a graduate of LJMU will stand you in good stead.”
He then went on to give his top ten management lessons to succeed in business, to which the audience listened avidly, and later took questions from the students.
