Sir Terry Leahy
Born	Terence Patrick Leahy (1956-02-28) 28 February 1956 (age 56) Belle Vale, Liverpool, England, U.K.
Nationality	British

Sir Terry Leahy (born 28 February 1956)^[1] is a former CEO of Tesco,^[1] the largest British retailer.

He lives in Cuffley, Hertfordshire,^[2] with his wife, Alison and his three children.^[3]

Career[link]

Following his then girlfriend to London, he applied to become a product manager for Turkey Foil but was turned down. He applied for a job at Tesco, but lost out to another candidate. After that candidate was quickly reassigned upwards, Leahy returned to Tesco in 1979 as a marketing executive.^[1]

Tesco was a resolute market follower of the two leading brands, Marks & Spencer as the then world's most profitable retailer, and Sainsburys as the world's most profitable food retailer. Leahy concluded that Tesco should stop following a strategy of catch-up and start leading through market knowledge, which led to his success in devising and implementing the Tesco Clubcard loyalty program and also successfully monitoring the shopping habits, movements, and political opinions of Clubcard holders.^{[citation needed]}

Leahy was appointed to the board in 1992, and in 1995 Tesco became the UK's biggest retailer. Leahy became chief executive in 1997,^[1] on the retirement of mentor Lord MacLaurin who wanted to appoint a successor to lead international expansion and increased market share. Tesco stretched its lead as the UK's largest retailer and also grew internationally: Leahy continued to visit a Tesco store somewhere every week, normally on a Friday.

Following Tesco's announcement of £2 billion in profits in April 2005, Leahy hit back against protests that the company was "too successful".

On 8 June 2010, Tesco announced that Leahy was to retire as chief executive in March 2011.^[4].

Honours[link]

Leahy was chosen as Britain's "Business Leader of the Year" in 2003 and the Fortune European Businessman of the Year for 2004.^[5] In 2005 he was selected as Britain's most admired business leader by Management Today,^[6] and a Guardian Unlimited Politics panel found him to be the most influential non-elected person in Britain in 2007.^[7] In 2006, Leahy came 3rd place in the annual Rear of the Year competition.

Leahy was granted the freedom of the city of Liverpool and knighted in 2002.^[3] He was Chancellor of UMIST, his alma mater, from 2002 until 1 October 2004, when he became a co-chancellor of the University of Manchester, when UMIST re-joined the main University.^[8] He has been honoured with a Doctor of Science from Cranfield University on 7 June 2007. ^[9]

Everton Football Club[link]

Leahy is an Everton Football Club supporter and is a special advisor to the club.^[10] He is also part of a proposed ground move to Kirkby which would have a new ground with a Tesco supermarket, a hotel, a range of high street shops and extensive car parking.^[11]

References[link]