When he was parachuted in to lead Tesco in 2014, chief executive Dave Lewis came with a 'no-nonsense' reputation – encapsulated in the epithet 'Drastic Dave' that the Yorkshireman had earned during his time at Unilever.
At the time, Tesco was a bloated beast, beset by falling profits and market share, and facing into the maelstrom of an accounting scandal that would have lasting repercussions. Yet over the space of five years, Lewis has led Tesco back to relative prosperity – sales were up marginally to £28.3 billion (€32.6 billion) in the first half of its financial year – and shed the retailer of its unnecessary baggage.
In other words, job done.
Moving On
Thus, it was no surprise that earlier this month, announcing its interim 2019/20 results, Lewis announced his intentions to step down from the retailer next summer, and pass on the mantle.
Set to replace him in the role is Ken Murphy, a 'lifer' at pharmacy group Walgreens Boots Alliance, and while the fanfare about the new appointee has been muted – “Jesus. Shocking. Boring, boring, boring. Is that the best they [Tesco] can do?”, one analyst was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying – Murphy has all the credentials to succeed at the UK's top retailer.
Hailing from Cork, Ireland, Murphy represented Ireland at university level at rugby; a fitting metaphor for the 'rough and tumble' of big business to follow.
Trained as a chartered accountant, he worked at Procter & Gamble and and Coopers & Lybrand before joining pharmacy giant Unichem in 1997, where he took on the role of finance director while still in his early 30s.
In time, Alliance UniChem would evolve into Alliance Boots, following the merger of the two businesses in 2006. Murphy, as business transformation director, led the integration of the two businesses, under the watchful eye of Stefano Pessina, the Italian billionaire that leads the Walgreens Boots Alliance conglomerate; the group's latest incarnation.
In the early part of this decade, Murphy took on the position of chief operating officer of Boots' UK and Ireland operations, where his roles included trading, brands, supply chain, IT, commercial business development and marketing, before head office came calling once again, and he was installed as managing director for the group's health and beauty brands on an international level.
This in turn led to Murphy's appointment as chief commercial officer and president of global brands in 2015, a position that led many to speculate that he would be in line to succeed Pessina, now in his late 70s, should the Italian decide to depart the business.
Murphy stepped down from this role in January, albeit maintaining a consultancy role with the pharmacy giant – putting him directly in the firing line when Tesco were seeking a new chief executive.
Strong Foundations
At Tesco, he will inherit a business in fine fettle. As Lewis noted in the group's recent interim report, "With these firm foundations and a competitive, sustainable growth strategy in place, I have no doubt that Tesco will kick on again under new leadership next year."
But nothing in retail is certain, and Murphy will need to use all the nous he learned in his climb to the top of the pharmacy chain to keep it that way. In ESM's dealings with Murphy over the years, we have found him to be self-assured, focused, capable – all qualities necessary in a top-level CEO.
Commenting on his then-boss Pessina to Fortune magazine in 2016, Murphy highlighted some of the Italian's business qualities. “He’s got an objectivity which is quite stunning," he said. He never gets emotionally embroiled; he never loses himself. He never becomes a slave to the deal.”
Fast forward three years, and all of these are skills that the Corkman himself will no doubt bring to the table, in what is arguably the most competitive grocery landscape in Europe.
"Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat", as we Irish put it.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
