Related subjects:
Did you know...This selection is made for schools by a children's charity . SOS mothers each look after a .
New Tesco House, the Tesco head office, in
Broxbourne, Hertfordshire
Tesco store at
Kingston Park,
Tesco PLC (:& TSCO) is a British
multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in
Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the
third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues (after
Walmart and
Carrefour) and the second-largest measured by profits (after Wal-Mart). It has stores in 14 countries across Asia, Europe and North America and is the grocery market leader in the UK (where it has a market share of around 30%), Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland and Thailand.
The company was founded in 1919 by
Jack Cohen as a group of market stalls. The Tesco name first appeared in 1924, after Cohen purchased a shipment of tea from T. E. Stockwell and combined those initials with the first two letters of his surname, and the first Tesco store opened in 1929 in
Burnt Oak,
Middlesex. His business expanded rapidly, and by 1939 he had over 100 Tesco stores across the country. Originally a UK-focused grocery retailer, since the early 1990s Tesco has increasingly
diversified geographically and into areas such as the retailing of books, clothing, electronics, furniture,
music downloads. The 1990s saw Tesco reposition itself, from its perception as a downmarket "pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap" retailer, to one which appeals across a wide social group, from its Tesco Value to its Tesco Finest ranges. This was successful, and saw the chain grow from 500 stores in the mid-1990s to 2,500 stores fifteen years later.
Tesco is listed on the
and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index. It had a
market capitalisation of approximately &24.4&billion as of 15 January 2012, the 15th-largest of any company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.
A branch of Tesco built inside the
Hoover Building in
Perivale, London (now a listed building)
Jack Cohen, son of Polish emigrant founded Tesco in 1919 when he began to sell surplus groceries from a stall at Well Street Market, Hackney, in the East End of London. The Tesco brand first appeared in 1924. The name came about after Jack Cohen bought a shipment of tea from Thomas Edward Stockwell. He made new labels using the first three letters of the supplier's name (TES), and the first two letters of his surname (CO), forming the word TESCO. The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in
Burnt Oak,
Edgware, Middlesex. Tesco was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1947 as Tesco Stores (Holdings) Limited. The first self-service store opened in
St Albans in 1956 (which remained operational until 2010, with a period as a Tesco Metro), and the first supermarket in
Maldon in 1956.
During the 1950s and the 1960s Tesco grew organically, and also through acquisitions, until it owned more than 800 stores. The company purchased 70 Williamson's stores (1957), 200 Harrow Stores outlets (1959), 212 Irwins stores (1960, beating
Express Dairies'
Premier Supermarkets to the deal), 97 Charles Phillips stores (1964) and the
Victor Value chain (1968) (sold to
Bejam in 1986).
Originally specialising in food and drink, it has
diversified into areas such as clothing, electronics,
financial services, , retailing and renting DVDs,
music downloads, Internet services and software.
Jack Cohen's business motto was "pile it high and sell it cheap", to which he added an internal motto of "YCDBSOYA" (You Can't Do Business Sitting On Your Arse) which he used to motivate his sales force.
In May 1987 Tesco completed its
hostile takeover of the
Hillards chain of 40 supermarkets in the
North of England for &220&million.
In 1994, the company took over the supermarket chain
William Low, successfully fighting off
for control of the -based firm, which operated 57 stores. This paved the way for Tesco to expand its presence in Scotland, which was weaker than in England. In 2006,
Inverness was branded as "Tescotown", because well over 50p in every &1 spent on food is believed to be spent in its three Tesco stores.
Tesco introduced a
loyalty card, branded ' Clubcard', in 1995 and later an Internet shopping service. As of November 2006 Tesco was the only food retailer to make online shopping profitable. In 1996 the typeface of the logo was changed to the current version with stripe reflections underneath, whilst the corporate font used for store signage was changed from the familiar "typewriter" font that had been used since the 1970s.
Terry Leahy assumed the role of Chief Executive on 21 February 1997, the appointment having been announced on 21 November 1995.
On 21 March 1997 Tesco announced the purchase of the retail arm of
Associated British Foods, which consisted of the
Quinnsworth,
Stewarts and
Crazy Prices chains in the
and , plus associated businesses, for &640&million. The deal was approved by the European Commission on 6 May 1997. This acquisition gave it both a major presence in (and marked a return to) the Republic of Ireland and a larger presence in Northern Ireland than Sainsbury's, which had begun its move into
In 1997, Tesco and
Esso (part of
Exxonmobil) formed a business alliance that included several petrol filling stations on lease from Esso, with Tesco operating the attached stores under their Express format. In turn Esso operates the forecourts and sells their fuel via the Tesco store. 200 Tesco/Esso sites now exist across the UK.
The company was the subject of a
letter bomb campaign lasting five months from August 2000 to February 2001 as a bomber calling himself "Sally" sent letter bombs to Tesco customers and demanded
Clubcards modified to withdraw money from cash machines.
In July 2001 Tesco became involved in internet grocery retailing in the USA when it obtained a 35% stake in GroceryWorks. In 2002 Tesco purchased 13 HIT hypermarkets in Poland. It also made a major move into the UK convenience store market with its purchase of T & S Stores, owner of 870 convenience stores in the , Dillons and Day & Nite chains in the UK.
In October 2003 the company launched a UK telecoms division, comprising mobile and home phone services, to complement its existing
Internet service provider business. In June 2003 Tesco purchased the C Two-Network in Japan. It also acquired a majority stake in Turkish supermarket chain
Kipa. In January 2004 Tesco acquired Adminstore, owner of 45 Cullens, Europa, and Harts convenience stores, in and around London. In August 2004, it also launched a broadband service.
In Thailand, Tesco Lotus was a joint venture of the
Charoen Pokphand Group and Tesco, but facing criticism over the growth of
hypermarkets CP Group sold its Tesco Lotus shares in 2003. In late 2005 Tesco acquired the 21 remaining
Safeway/ stores after
Morrisons dissolved the Safeway/BP partnership. In mid 2006 Tesco purchased an 80% stake in Casino's Leader Price supermarkets in Poland. They will be rebranded into small Tesco stores. In 2003, Tesco took part in a joint venture with
O2 to form the Tesco Mobile
mobile virtual network operator.
In 2007, Tesco was placed under investigation by the UK
Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for acting as part of a
cartel of five supermarkets (Safeway, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsburys) and a number of dairy companies to fix the price of milk, butter and cheese. In December 2007 Asda, Sainsburys and the former Safeway admitted that they acted covertly against the interests of consumers while publicly claiming that they were supporting 5,000 farmers recovering from the
foot-and-mouth crisis. They were fined a total of &116&million.
In 2011, Tesco launched a range of
Tesco Venture Brands
Although profits were &1.9&billion for the first half of 2011, sales growth in the UK was the lowest in 20 years, partly due to shoppers switching to budget rivals.
In April 2012 Tesco re-launched its own brand Tesco value range as 'Tesco Everyday Value', with new packaging and recipes.
In 2013, during
EU-wide meat adulteration scandal, it emerged that some 'value' burgers sold by Tesco contained up to 29% horse meat. In February 2013 Tesco reported that their value bolognaise contained 60% horsemeat.
Tesco Stores Ltd. is the
subsidiary of Tesco PLC in the United Kingdom. Tesco's UK operation is divided into six formats, differentiated by size and the range of products sold.
As of 19 April 2012, at the end of its 2011/12 financial year, Tesco's UK store portfolio was as follows.
Total area (m²)
Total area (sq ft)
Mean area (m²)
Mean area (sq ft)
Percentage of space
+/- Stores 2011/12
Tesco Extra
16,448,000
Tesco Superstores
13,754,000
Tesco Metro
Tesco Express
Tesco Homeplus
38,592,000
Tesco Extra, Commercial Street,
Batley, West Yorkshire.
Tesco Extra stores are larger, mainly out-of-town
hypermarkets that stock nearly all of Tesco's product ranges, although some are in the heart of town centres and inner-city locations. The first Extra opened in 1997 in
Pitsea. The number of these is now being increased by about 20 a year, mainly by conversions and rebuilds.
The largest store in England by floor space is Tesco Extra in
Walkden, with 185,500 square feet (17,230&m2) of floorspace. The largest in Scotland is the
Silverburn store. The largest in
Parc Fforestfach,
Swansea, which is 112,000 square feet (10,400&m2) constructed in 2003. The 200th Extra store was opened in October 2010 in
Bishop Auckland.
Other large stores include
Cleethorpes, , , ,
Stockton-on-Tees and
Watford are all in the 120,000 square feet (11,000&m2) range. Newer stores are usually on two floors, with the ground floor mainly for food and the first floor for clothing, electronics and entertainment. Some stores that did not have the second floor have been converted to this format in recent years. Most Tesco Extra stores have a caf& and as of October 2009, all stores have a Tesco Tech Support Team.
Recently opened stores include
Yardley, Birmingham and
Crewe with new stores to open in
West Bromwich,
Gateshead and
Macclesfield.
In common with other towns, such as
Warrington, the recently opened
St Helens store, which at 140,000 square metres is one of the biggest in , was developed on the same site as the town's new rugby league stadium. It is believed that Tesco part-fund the land purchases for these developments and therefore benefit from fans visiting the stores both before and after matches.
Tesco superstores are standard large supermarkets, stocking groceries and a much smaller range of non-food goods than Extra stores. The stores have always previously been branded as simply 'Tesco', but a new store in
was the first to use the format brand 'Tesco Superstore' above the door.
Tesco Metro,
St Albans, England
Tesco Metro stores are sized between Tesco superstores and Tesco Express stores, with stores averaging 11,000 square feet (1,000&m2). They are mainly located in city centres, the inner city and on the high streets of towns. The first Tesco Metro opened in Neston in 1980. Since then most Tesco branches with a high street format, including those that opened before the Covent Garden branch, have been rebranded from Tesco to Tesco Metro. The Tesco store in
Carlisle city centre will in 2012 be the last store to finish rebranding. The store has not been renovated for over 20 years.
Tesco Express, Hilperton Road,
Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Tesco Express stores are neighbourhood
convenience stores averaging 2,200 square feet (200&m2), stocking mainly food with an emphasis on higher-margin products (due to small store size, and the necessity to maximise revenue per square foot) alongside everyday essentials. They are found in busy city centre districts, small shopping precincts in residential areas, small towns and villages and on
Esso petrol station forecourts. The 1000th Tesco Express site opened in July 2009. Tesco have now started building Tesco Express stores with only 'Assisted-Service' tills, in which the customer scans all their own shopping and packs it, with the support of supervising staff when required.
Trowbridge, Wiltshire
One Stop, which includes some of the smallest stores (smaller than a Tesco Express), is the only Tesco store format in the UK that does not include the word Tesco in its name. The brand, along with the original stores, formed part of the T&S Stores business but, unlike many that were converted to Tesco Express, these kept their old name. Subsequently, other stores bought by Tesco have been converted to the One Stop brand. Some have
Tesco Personal Finance branded .
The business has attracted some controversy, as grocery prices in these shops, often situated in less well-off areas, can be higher than nearby Tesco branded stores, highlighted in
The Times 22 March 2010: "Britain&s biggest supermarket uses its chain of 520 One Stop convenience stores&& which many customers do not realise it owns&& to charge up to 14 per cent more for goods than it does in Tesco-branded stores."
Tesco responded to the article stating "It is a separate business within the Tesco Group, with its own supply chain and distribution network. One Stop stores offer a different range to Express stores and its operating costs are different. One Stop&s price strategy is to match to its nearest competitor,
Costcutter, and is frequently cheaper." They can usually be found in smaller communities across the .
Tesco Homeplus is not Tesco's first non-food only venture in the UK. Until the late 1990s/early 2000s there were several non-food Tesco stores around the country including Scarborough and Yate. Although not in a warehouse style format, the stores were located on high streets and shopping centres, they stocked similar items to Homeplus stores. In both cases this was because another part of the shopping centre had a Tesco Superstore that stocked food items only.
In May 2005 Tesco announced a trial non-food only format near
and , and the first store opened in October 2005:
Stores offer all of Tesco's ranges except food in warehouse-style units in retail parks. Tesco is using this format because only 20% of its customers have access to a Tesco Extra, and the company is restricted in how many of its superstores it can convert into Extras and how quickly it can do so. Large units for non-food retailing are much more readily available.
There are currently 13 Homeplus stores nationwide. The newest Homeplus store opened in Chester in July 2009.
Two more were due to open in the first half of 2009 at sites around the country. All of these were to feature the Order and Collect desk where customers can purchase and collect most items straightaway.
In 2012, The Times reported that Tesco was keen to exit leases on all of its 13 Home Plus stores and has been looking at options with property advisor Morgan Williams.
Tesco announced its intention to purchase
Dobbies Garden Centres for &155.6&million on 8 June 2007. Dobbies operates 28 garden centres, half in Scotland and half in England. The deal was confirmed as successful by the board of directors of Tesco on 17 August 2007 when the board announced that they had received 53.1% of shares (or 5,410,457 shares), which confirmed conditions set out in the offer made on 20 June 2007. Although the deal had been confirmed by Tesco the offer remained open to Dobbies shareholders until 20 August 2007. Tesco raised its holding to 65% in September and on 5 June 2008 Tesco announced that it would be compulsorily acquiring Dobbies Garden Centres PLC. Dobbies continues to trade under its own brand, from its own head office in Melville, near .
In 2012 Tesco established a new coffee shop chain, named Harris and Hoole after coffee-loving characters in Samuel Pepys' diary. This operation will not display any information to inform customers that the company is up to 49%-owned by the supermarket firm. The chain is run by the Australian siblings behind the upmarket London coffee shops Taylor Street. Nick, Andrew and Laura Tolley, who set up Taylor Street in 2006, will own the majority of the shares in Harris and Hoole.
In the United Kingdom Tesco operates a homeshopping service through the
In May 1984, in
Gateshead, England, the world's first recorded online home shopper, Mrs Jane Snowball, purchased groceries from her local Tesco store in the world's first recorded
online shopping transaction from the home. Tesco has operated on the internet since 1994 and was the first retailer in the world to offer a robust home shopping service in 1996.
was formally launched in 2000. Grocery sales are available within delivery range of selected stores, goods being hand-picked within each store, in contrast to the warehouse model followed by Ocado. Tesco offers an internet-based DVD rental service, which is operated by
LOVEFiLM and a music download service.
In 2011, Tesco bought
Blinkbox, an online movie streaming service in which selected DVD's which are purchased in store can be streamed online for free as well. In June 2012, the company acquired the music streaming site
In the United Kingdom Tesco offers financial services through Tesco Bank, formerly a 50:50 joint venture with the
Royal Bank of Scotland. Products on offer include credit cards, loans, mortgages, savings accounts and several types of insurance, including car, home, life and travel. They are promoted by leaflets in Tesco's stores and through its website. The business made a profit of &130&million for the 52 weeks to 24 February 2007, of which Tesco's share was &66&million. This move towards the financial sector diversified the Tesco brand and provides opportunities for growth outside of the retailing sector.
On 28 July 2008 Tesco announced that they were buying out the Royal Bank of Scotland's 50% stake in the company for &950&million. In October 2009 the name of Tesco Personal Finance was changed to Tesco Bank.
Tesco petrol station in
St Mellons
Tesco first started selling petrol in 1974. Tesco sells 95, 97 and 99
RON (a fuel developed by
Greenergy of which Tesco is a shareholder) petrol from forecourts at most superstore and Express locations. Tesco have recently diversified into , offering petrol-bioethanol and diesel-biodiesel blends instead of pure petrol and diesel at their petrol stations, and now offering Greenergy 100% biodiesel at many stores in the southeast of the United Kingdom.
On 28 February 2007 motorists in
South East England reported that their cars were breaking down. This was due to petrol sold by Tesco and others being contaminated with , Tesco has been criticised with claims that they had been alerted to the problem as early as 12 February 2007. On 6 March, Tesco offered to pay for any damage caused by the faulty petrol, after printing full page apologies in many national newspapers.
Tesco operates mobile phone, home phone and broadband businesses. These are available to residential consumers in several countries and are sold via the Tesco website and through Tesco stores. Tesco has not purchased or built a telecoms network, but instead has pursued a strategy of pairing its marketing strength with the expertise of existing telecoms operators.
In late 2003,
Tesco Mobile was launched as a joint venture with
O2. In November 2009 Tesco announced over 2&million UK customers were using this service. A similar
O2 based service has since been launched in Ireland and Slovakia.
In August 2004, Tesco broadband, an
ADSL-based service delivered via
BT phone lines, was launched in partnership with
NTL. In November 2009 Tesco announced a new partnership with
Cable & Wireless, and a fresh focus on this business area.
In January 2006, Tesco Internet Phone, a Voice over Internet Protocol,
VoIP, service was launched in conjunction with Freshtel of Australia. This service was shut down in 2010.
In November 2009, Tesco announced it now has 100 Phone Shops embedded within larger
stores, and stated an intention to open up to 500 such shops across the UK in the medium term. In April 2010 the first Tesco Phone shop opened in Slovakia.
Many years Photo Processing has occurred within Tesco. They started with wet labs and are slowly going is to enable the increased popularity of instant gifting products. Many Dry Labs can now produce items such as canvases while you shop. Many Extra Stores have these shops, but are being cut out due to space issues in certain Extras.
Tesco acquired a small I.T. support company called The PC Guys in 2008, and were able to launch Tesco Tech Support in December. Teams of Advisors were put into all
stores with the sole job role of answering technical questions on Tesco's range of electrical products. They also are responsible for advising customers on extended warranties, electrical returns and a range of finance options. Through their Customer Service Centre located in
in the United Kingdom, Tesco Tech Support provides UK and Ireland customers with technical support via telephony system on the electrical products sold in their stores.
Technika is a brand name for electronic products sold through Tesco. The Technika range currently includes Televisions, MP3 Docking Stations, Computer Peripherals, DVD and Blu-ray Players, DAB Radios. The range is updated on a regular basis to follow market trends.
The Technika brand is managed in-house by Tesco alongside its other brands, such as Tesco and Tesco Value. Customer support is offered through the Tesco Electrical Helpline or in-store through Tesco Tech Support.
In 2010, Tesco started funding a small film studio intended to produce Tesco exclusive direct-to- films. The first film comes out on 6 September and is called
Paris Connections. It is based on a popular novel by Jackie Collins, and is an investigation thriller. Jackie Collins rewrote the novel to be more appropriate to the medium of film.
In 2010, Tesco announced that they will be forming their own record label, with notable signings since including
Mick Hucknall and
Nadine Coyle. Tesco records will be exclusive products to Tesco stores.
On 20 April 2011, Tesco acquired a 80% stake in
Blinkbox from Eden Ventures and Nordic Venture Partners, it intends to use the company to boost its digital entertainment offering.
In 2011, Tesco launched Tesco Gold Exchange, which is a postal gold service, offering money for gold, as well as offering clubcard points to customers via their website.
In 2011, Tesco launched
in association with
, offering a choice of over 1,200 fitting partners across the UK as well as offering clubcard points with purchases.
In February 2011, Tesco launched Your Beauty Salon, in Tesco stores planning to open 70 over the next year, offering services like haircuts, leg waxing, manicures and eyebrow.
Tesco's international expansion strategy has responded to the need to be sensitive to local expectations in other countries by entering into joint ventures with local partners, such as
Samsung Group in South Korea ( Samsung-Tesco
Home plus), and
Charoen Pokphand in Thailand ( Tesco Lotus), appointing a very high proportion of local personnel to management positions. It also makes small acquisitions as part of its strategy for example, in its
financial year it made acquisitions in South Korea, one in Poland and one in Japan.
In late 2004 the amount of floorspace Tesco operated outside the United Kingdom surpassed the amount it had in its home market for the first time, although the United Kingdom still accounted for more than 75% of group revenue due to lower sales per unit area outside the UK.
In September 2005 Tesco announced that it was selling its operations in Taiwan to Carrefour and purchasing Carrefour's stores in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Both companies stated that they were concentrating their efforts in countries where they had strong market positions.
The following table shows the number of stores, total store size in area and sales for Tesco's international operations. The store numbers and floor area figures are as at 18 April 2012. This information is taken from the
2011/12 Preliminary Results analyst pack&PDF&(92&KB).
Area (m² (sq ft))
Mean store area (m² (sq ft))
+/- Stores 2011/12
893,913 (9,622,000)
7,209 (77,476)
Czech Republic
538,559 (5,797,000)
1,673 (18,003)
678,285 (7,301,000)
3,202 (34,439)
Republic of Ireland
319,586 (3,440,000)
2,333 (25,109)
36,790 (396,000)
304 (3,273)
350,988 (3,778,000)
7,800 (83,956)
827,394 (8,906,000)
2,008 (21,617)
336,959 (3,627,000)
2,808 (30,225)
South Korea
1,166,026 (12,551,000)
2,546 (27,404)
1,192,039 (12,831,000)
1,092 (11,750)
337,052 (3,628,000)
2,277 (24,514)
United Kingdom (for comparison)
3,585,314 (38,592,000)
1,205 (12,972)
United States
173,279 (1,870,000)
937 (10,108)
Total (not including UK)
6,851,321 (73,747,000)
Mean: 2,029 (21,844)
Total (including UK)
10,436,635 (112,339,000)
Mean: 1,643 (17,688)
Czech Republic
Tesco Express, Belehradska Street, , Czech Republic
Tesco opened its first store in the Czech Republic in 1996 and now has over 84 stores, with further planned. Tesco opened its first stores in the Czech Republic by buying US corporation Kmart's operations in the country and converting them into Tesco stores. Tesco is also keen to expand non-food items and has already opened petrol stations and offers personal finance services in the Czech Republic. There are currently three Tesco Extra stores in the Czech Republic & one in
Brno, two in
Plzeň.
Tesco owned a French food retailer called
Catteau between 1992 and 1997, which operated a chain of stores in NE France under the
Cedico, Hyper Cedico and Cedimarche banners. Tesco also operated a "Vin Plus" outlet in
Calais, selling wine, beer and spirits, which closed on 30 August 2010.
Tesco store at
Kőszeg, Hungary with Statue of
Fire Salamander
Tesco launched in Hungary in 1994 after purchasing a small local supermarket group trading as S-Market based in the North West of Hungary. It opened its first hypermarket in Hungary at the Polus Centre in Budapest in 1996. Tesco operates through more than 200 stores in Hungary with further openings planned. Tesco offers its value, standard, healthy living and finest range in its stores. Tesco Hungary also offers a clothing line and personal finance services. In August 2010 opened the first Tesco E its name is Tesco Extra Fogarasi and it is located in Zugl&, Budapest. The second Tesco Extra opened in
Debrecen in 2012.
A Tesco Hypermarket in
Prokocim, Poland
Tesco entered the Polish market in 1995. It currently operates from 334 stores. Tesco Poland offers the value, healthy living and own branded line of products as well as regional produce, petrol, personal finance services and on-line
photo processing. In August 2008 Tesco opened the first Extra store in Poland located in
Częstochowa. Currently there are five Tesco Extra stores in Poland.
Tesco, Kamenn& n&mestie, , Slovakia
Tesco Slovakia opened in 1996 as part of Tesco's international expansion aims. It now operates from 123 stores. Tesco Slovakia has recently put great emphasis on organic products. However, Tesco Slovakia caused controversy amongst the Slovak government when it was found to have come foul of
food safety laws in 2006. In April 2010 the first Tesco Extra in Central Europe opened in
Petrzalka, Slovakia as part of a pilot project for Tesco in the region, including the first self-service cash flow in Central Europe. There are currently seven Tesco Extra stores in Slovakia & three in Bratislava and one in
Banska Bystrica and
Spi&sk& Nov& Ves.
In 2010 first Tesco Express stores were opened in Bratislava with current number of 16 shops. Tesco also operates store called 'My' in Bratislava which accept Clubcard and share some branding, however, most promotions do not apply for My. Tesco in Slovakia operates mobile network "Tesco Mobile" and also petrol stations.
Republic of Ireland
Tesco first operated in the Irish grocery market in the early eighties, selling its operations there in March 1986. Tesco re-entered the Irish market in 1997 after the purchase of Power Supermarkets Ltd. It now operates from 101 stores across Ireland. Like Tesco stores in the UK, these offer a home delivery shopping service available to 80% of the Irish population as well as petrol, mobile telephone, personal finance, flower delivery service and a weight-loss programme. Tesco's loyalty programme, Clubcard, is offered in the country.
Tesco is now the grocery market leader in the Republic of Ireland, with a reported November 2005 share of 26.3%. Tesco Ireland also claims to be the largest purchaser of Irish food with an estimated &1.5&billion annually. Tesco Ireland operates a small number of Tesco Extra hypermarkets in the Republic of Ireland, with
Clarehall Extra on the
Malahide Road being the first to open in 2006. Tesco's largest hypermarket store in Europe, with a floorspace of 18,500 m², opened in
Co Kildare in November 2010.
The country's
newspaper of record the
Irish Times in April 2011 said that "Increasingly, Ireland is being viewed as a provincial backwater by the parent company & albeit a very profitable little backwater & and all the strategic decisions are being taken in the UK.
In 2008 Tesco opened its first eco store in Tramore, Co. Waterford, its expected to use 45% energy than other Tesco supermarkets.
Tesco acquired a 50% stake in the Hymall chain, from
Ting Hsin in September 2004. In December 2006 it raised its stake to 90% in a &180&million deal. Most of Tesco China's stores are based around Shanghai, but according to Tesco it plans to equip the business to expand more quickly and in different areas. Tesco has a large store in Weifang, Shandong province, and a further two floor store in Taizhou, Jiangsu province. The tesco in Taizhou offers imported beers and spirits, some imported wines, and Australian, French, Italian and Dutch cheese products. A Tesco Express in the Shanghai Old Street area is no different from a typical Chinese convenience store in both style and products on display. Tesco has been increasing its own brand products into the
as well as introducing the Tesco Express format.
Tesco has had a limited presence in India with a service centre in , and outsourcing. In 2008 Tesco announced their intention to invest an initial &60m ($115m) to open a wholesale cash-and-carry business based in Mumbai with the assistance of the
Tata Group.
Tesco Japan first began operations in 2003. It was brought about by a buy-out of C Two stores for &139&million in July 2003 and later Fre'c in April 2004. Tesco has adopted an approach that focuses on small corner shops that operate similarly to its Express format, rather than opening hypermarkets. It has also launched its range of software in Japan. In August 2011, Tesco announced that they would be selling off their Japanese stores after revealing that only half of the stores in the
Greater Tokyo Area were making a profit.
A Tesco outlet in
Bandar Bukit Tinggi,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Tesco opened its first store in Malaysia in May 2002 with the opening of its first hypermarket in
Selangor. Tesco Malaysia currently operates 45 Tesco and Tesco Extra stores.
Selangor has 12 stores,
Perak seven stores,
Johor six stores,
Penang five stores each,
Kedah four stores,
Negeri Sembilan three stores,
Melaka two stores, and
Kelantan one store. Tesco has partnered with local conglomerate
Sime Darby Berhad, which holds 30% of the shares.
Tesco also acquired the Malaysian operation of the wholesaler
Makro, which was rebranded Tesco Extra and provides products for local retailers. As of 2011, Tesco has relaunched the Tesco Extra brand in five of its stores in the Klang Valley. The new Tesco Extra brand will now offer the widest choice in the food, clothing, home and electronics ranges. A variety of complementary services such as a pharmacy, an optician and a Tesco phone shop will also be incorporated into these Tesco Extra stores.
Tesco Malaysia offers a value range, its own branded range, electronic goods, the loyalty clubcard and clothing. Tesco Malaysia's clubcard introduced Green ClubCard Points in 2007 making Tesco Malaysia the first Tesco international business to introduce the scheme (Green ClubCard Points).
South Korea
Tesco launched its South Korean operations as " Home plus" in 1999 and partnered with
Samsung, currently Tesco holds 94% of the shares in the venture. It operates both hypermarkets and its express format as well as a home delivery shopping service. It is the second largest retailer in South Korea, just behind
Shinsegae Group.
On 14 May 2008, Tesco agreed to purchase 36 hypermarkets with a combination of food and non-food products from
E-Land for $1.9&billion (&976&million) in its biggest single acquisition, making Tesco the second largest in the country. The majority of the E-Land stores formerly belonged to French retailer
Carrefour before 2006 and most of the stores will be converted to Home plus outlets. Tesco's South Korean discount store chain, Home Plus, currently has 66 outlets.
Tesco-Lotus superstore in Sakon Nakon, Thailand. Shoppers have to pass through a checkpoint before entering the premises.
Tesco entered Thailand in 1998 and operates through 380 stores as part of a joint venture with
Charoen Pokphand and named the operation " Tesco Lotus". This partnership was dissolved in 2003 when Charoen Pokphand sold its shares to Tesco. Tesco Lotus sells a diverse range of products from value food products to electronics to personal finance services. The company is keen to promote its green values and has partnered with the
UNEP. Tesco Lotus claims to serve 20&million customers every month and that 97% of its goods are sourced from Thailand.
Tesco entered Turkey in 2003 and uses the trading name " Tesco Kipa". Tesco remains focused on building infrastructure in Turkey to complete its expansion plans and has already introduced the Tesco Express format into Turkey. There are plans to increase the rate of expansion as basic infrastructure is built. The first Tesco Extra in Turkey opened in
Izmir, Turkey, Tesco Kipa Extra Bal&ova in September 2010.
Fresh & Easy store in
Summerlin, Nevada, United States
Tesco entered the United States grocery market in 2007 through the opening of a new chain of convenience stores, named
Fresh & Easy, on the West Coast (Arizona, California and Nevada). The company established its U.S. headquarters in
El Segundo, California, and the first store opened in
Hemet, California in November 2007, with 100 more plann a store opening every two-and-a-half days. Although the planned rate of expansion was not maintained, largely because of the recession, as of August 2011 Fresh & Easy operated 182 stores across Arizona, California and Nevada.
Customers can collect one Clubcard point for every &1 (or one point for &1 in Ireland and Slovakia or 1 point for 1zł in Poland) they spend in a Tesco store, , and 1 point per &2 on fuel (not in Slovakia). Customers can also collect points by paying with a Tesco Credit Card, or by using Tesco Mobile, Tesco Homephone, Tesco Broadband, selected Tesco Personal Finance products or through Clubcard partners,
Avis. Each point equates to 1p in store when redeemed or up to 3 times their value when used with clubcard deals (offers for holidays, day trips, etc.) Clubcard points (UK & IE) can also be converted to
Tesco have recently announced a partnership with
Virgin Atlantic whereby Clubcard points may be converted to frequent flyer miles
Holders receive Clubcard statements 4 times a year, which often feature extra point coupons and money-off coupons. These can be spent in-store, online or on various Clubcard deals.
Tesco was cited in a Wall Street Journal article as using the intelligence from the Clubcard to thwart Wal-Mart's initiatives in the UK.
Tesco announced on 12 February 2013 that they will be launching their own TV on demand and film on demand service. The service will be free to Tesco customer there will be no charges, subscription or contract.
Potters Bar Tesco
According to
Citigroup retail analyst David McCarthy, "[Tesco has] pulled off a trick that I'm not aware of any other retailer achieving. That is to appeal to all segments of the market". One plank of this strategy has been Tesco's use of its own-brand products, including the upmarket "Finest", mid-range Tesco brand and low-price "Value" encompassing several product categories such as food, beverage, home, clothing, Tesco Mobile and financial services.
Beginning in 1997 when Terry Leahy took over as CEO, Tesco began marketing itself using the phrase "The Tesco Way" to describe the company's core purposes, values, principles, and goals This phrase became the standard marketing speak for Tesco as it expanded domestically and internationally under Leahy's leadership, implying a shift by the company to focus on people, both customers and employees.
A core part of the Tesco expansion strategy has been its innovative use of technology. It was one of the first to build self-service tills and use cameras to reduce queues.
Tesco is listed on the
under the symbol TSCO.
All figures below are for the Tesco's financial years, which run for 52 or 53 week periods to late February. Up to 27 February 2007 period end the numbers include non-UK and Ireland results for the year ended on 31 December 2006 in the accounting year. The figures in the table below include 52 weeks/12 months of turnover for both sides of the business as this provides the best comparative.
52/3 weeks ended
Turnover (&m)
Profit before tax (&m)
Profit for year (&m)
earnings per share (p)
26 February 2011
27 February 2010
28 February 2009
23 February 2008
24 February 2007
25 February 2006
26 February 2005
28 February 2004
22 February 2003
23 February 2002
24 February 2001
26 February 2000
27 February 1999
28 February 1998
Despite being in a recession, Tesco made record profits for a British retailer in the year to February 2010, during which its underlying pre-tax profits increased by 10.1% to &3.4&billion. Tesco now plans to create 16,000 new jobs, of which 9,000 will be in the UK. In 2011 the retailer reported its poorest six-monthly UK sales figures for 20 years, as a result of consumers' reduced non-food spending.
UK market share
As of its 2006 year end Tesco was the fourth largest retailer in the world behind Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Home Depot. Tesco moved ahead of Home Depot during 2007, following the sale of Home Depot's professional supply division and a decline in the value of the U.S. dollar against the British pound.
METRO was only just behind and might move ahead again if the euro strengthens against the pound, but METRO's sales include many billions of
wholesale turnover, and its retail turnover is much less than Tesco's.
According to
Kantar Worldpanel, Tesco's share of the UK grocery market in the 12 weeks to 18 March 2012 was 30.2%, down from 30.6% in the 12 weeks to 18 March 2011.
Supermarket
Market share March 2012
+/- from March 2011
The Co-operative Food
In terms of the wider UK retail market, Tesco sales account for around one pound in every ten spent in British shops. In 2007 it was reported that its share was even larger, with one pound in every seven spent going to Tesco.
Tesco have used many television adverts over the years. In July 2007 a DVD containing adverts from
was given to all members of staff. Early advertising stressed cheap prices and how to keep "The cost of living in check." In 1977 an advert was made where a till showed the prices to many items such as "baked beans 121/2p".
A notable 1980s advert was "Checkout 82," which was made in 1982, where a till would have a receipt coming out of it with the prices on. This advert had synth pop music as the backing and people singing "Check it out, check it out".
Adverts in the late '90s had
as Dotty Turnbull, arguing about Tesco prices. In 2003, adverts showed items and shopping trolleys talking about Tesco. Late 2000s adverts have included many celebrities and celebrity voice-overs such as The Spice Girls and the voice of actors
James Nesbitt and Jane Horrocks.
Tesco's main advertising slogan is "Every little helps". Its advertisements in print and on television mainly consist of product shots (or an appropriate image, such as a car when advertising petrol) against a white background, with a price or appropriate text (e.g., "Tesco Value") superimposed on a red circle. On television, voiceovers are provided by recognisable actors and presenters, such as
Barbara Windsor,
James Nesbitt,
Jane Horrocks,
Terry Wogan,
Dawn French,
Ray Winstone,
Neil Morrissey,
Martin Clunes,
David Jason,
David Tennant,
Richard Aitken and
Kathy Burke amongst others. In 2012, Pop Singer, Ellie Goulding, along with Polydor Records, released a special "Tesco Edition" of Ellie Goulding's sophomore album, Halcyon, sold only in Tesco stores, which included two new bonus tracks. This was in an effort to promote Tesco, and Ellie Goulding.
Tesco has made a commitment to
corporate social responsibility in the form of contributions of 1.87% in 2006 of its pre-tax profits to charities/local community organisations. This compares favourably with 's 1.51% but not well with Sainsbury's 7.02%.
Will Hutton, in his role as chief executive of The Work Foundation recently praised Tesco for leading the debate on corporate responsibility. However
Intelligent Giving has criticised the company for directing all "staff giving" support to the company's Charity of the Year.
In 1992, Tesco started a "computers for schools scheme", offering computers in return for schools and hospitals getting vouchers from people who shopped at Tesco. Until 2004, &92&million of equipment went to these organisations. The scheme has been also implemented in Poland.
Starting during the 2005&06
season, the company now sponsors the
Tesco Cup, a football competition for young players throughout the UK.
In 2009 Tesco used the phrase, "Change for Good" as advertising, which is trade marked by
Unicef for charity usage but not for commercial or retail use, which prompted the agency to say, "It is the first time in Unicef&s history that a commercial entity has purposely set out to capitalise on one of our campaigns and subsequently damage an income stream which several of our programmes for children are dependent on." They went on to call on the public "...who have children&s welfare at heart, to consider carefully who they support when making consumer choices." Tesco's own labels for personal care and household products are moreover cruelty free&& this means they are not tested on animals.
In June 2011, Tesco announced that it was working with
2degrees Network to create an online hub as part of its target to reduce its supply chain
carbon footprint by 30% by 2020.
In September 2011 a Greenpeace report revealed that Tesco supermarkets in China were selling vegetables that contained illegal pesticides or at levels exceeding the legal limit. A green vegetable sample from Tesco turned up methamidophos and monocrotophos, the use of which has been prohibited in China since the beginning of 2007.
As with any large corporation, Tesco is involved in litigation, usually from claims of personal injury from customers, claims of unfair dismissal from staff, and other commercial matters. Two notable cases were
Ward v Tesco Stores Ltd, which set a precedent in so called 'trip or slip' injury clai and
Tesco Supermarkets Ltd v Nattrass, which reached the , in which Tesco was cleared of responsibility for a staff member's failure to correct a misleading advert.
In November 2007, Tesco sued a Thai academic and a former minister for civil
libel and criminal defamation. Tesco is insisting that the two pay &1.6&million and &16.4&million plus two years' imprisonment respectively. They have been alleged to have misstated that Tesco's Thai market amounts to 37% of its global revenues, amongst criticism of Tesco's propensity to put small retailers out of business.
Tesco have been criticised for aggressively pursuing critics of the company in Thailand. Writer and former MP Jit Siratranont is facing up to two years in jail and a &16.4&million libel damages claim for saying that Tesco was expanding aggressively at the expense of small local retailers. Tesco served him with writs for criminal defamation and civil libel.
Criticism of Tesco includes allegations of stifling competition due to its undeveloped "land bank", and breaching planning laws.
In December 2006
The Grocer magazine published a study that named Tesco as having the slowest checkouts of the six major supermarkets. Somerfield had the shortest queues with an average wait of 4 min 23 seconds. In order of least time spent at the checkout, the other major supermarkets were Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons.
The Grocer also named Asda as the cheapest UK supermarket (based on 33 items). Tesco was second and Sainsbury's and Morrisons joint third. Tesco price check tends to differ saying out of 7134 (compared to Asda) products, (Survey carried out between 9 July 2007 and 11 July 2007) Tesco is cheaper: 1835 (compared to 1251 the previous week), Tesco is more expensive: 975 (compared to 984 the previous week) and Tesco is the same price: 4324 (compared to 4996 the previous week).
In May 2007, it was revealed that Tesco had moved the head office of its online operations to Switzerland. This allows it to sell CDs, DVDs and electronic games through its web site without charging
VAT. The operation had previously been run from , but had been closed by authorities who feared damage to the island's reputation. In June 2008, the government announced that it was closing a tax loophole being used by Tesco. The scheme, identified by British magazine
Private Eye, utilises offshore
holding companies in Luxembourg and partnership agreements to reduce corporation tax liability by up to &50&million a year. Another scheme previously identified by Private Eye involved depositing &1&billion in a Swiss partnership, and then loaning out that money to overseas Tesco stores, so that profit can be transferred indirectly through interest payments. This scheme is still in operation and is estimated to be costing the UK exchequer up to &20&million a year in corporation tax. Tax expert Richard Murphy has provided an analysis of this avoidance structure.
Tesco's expansion has not been without criticism and, in some cases, active opposition.
In March 2007 residents in
Bournville, Birmingham fought to maintain the historic alcohol free status of the area, in winning a court battle with Tesco, to prevent it selling alcohol in its local outlet. No shops are permitted to sell alcohol in the area and there are no pubs, bars or fast-food outlets in Bournville.
Plans for a large Tesco store in
St Albans, Hertfordshire, attracted widespread local opposition. This led to the formation of the "Stop St Albans Tesco Group". In June 2008, St Albans Council refused planning permission for the proposed store.
In April 2011, longstanding opposition to a Tesco Express store in Cheltenham Road,
Stokes Croft, Bristol, evolved into a violent clash between opponents and police. The recently opened storefront was heavily damaged, and police reported the seizure of
petrol bombs. Opponents have suggested that the store would damage small shops and harm the character of the area.
As of August 2012, around 27 UK Tesco superstores have
halal meat counters. The meat sold is advertised as "stun-free", which puts the meat sold in contradiction of
RSPCA standards on animal welfare. The sale of such meat would be illegal in the UK were it not for an exemption in the law granted to . Tesco has come under criticism for not selling stunned Halal in its stores and because stores with Halal counters do not always have non-Halal fresh meat counters as well - such as the Edgbaston store in Birmingham.
In January 2013, the British media reported that
horse meat had been found in some meat products sold by Tesco, along with other retailers, particularly burgers.
called this "unacceptable", with products showing 29.1% horse meat in the "Value" range burger, which were supposed to be beef. It was later revealed in February 2013 that some of Tesco's Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese contained 60% horse meat. Tesco withdrew 26 of its products in response, and announced that they were working with authorities and the supplier to investigate the cause of the contamination.
In recent years Tesco alumni have had increasing influence on other large listed businesses. Former Tesco senior staffers include:
TalkTalk Group plc:
Dido Harding
Halfords Group plc: David Wild
: Julia Reynolds
Dixons Retail plc:
John Browett
Deputy Chair
Carphone Warehouse: John Gildersleeve
Carrefour France: James McCann
Greggs plc: Ken McMeikan
Domino's Pizza UK & IRL:
Lance Batchelor
Wikipedia for Schools is a selection taken from the original English-language Wikipedia by the child sponsorship charity . It was created as a
for use in schools in the developing world and beyond.Sources and authors can be found at www.wikipedia.org. See also our . These articles are available under the . This article was sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/?oldid= .