New man is from the Leahy mould
THE son of a Tesco store manager in the Wirral, Philip Clarke has moved into the
hot seat 36 years after he did his first shelf-stacking shift for the supermarket as a schoolboy.
Like his predecessor Sir Terry Leahy, who also grew up in Liverpool, he has been one of the backbones of the company for decades.
Clarke, 50, is married with two children and lives in Hertfordshire, as does Leahy.
The executive studied economics at Liverpool Universtity and has been a store manager, a buyer and a marketer ,and latterly handled IT as well as its fast-growing international business.
Caroline Gulliver, analyst at Execution Noble, described Clarke as a “Tesco man through and through … who comes across as very personable, talented and
dedicated”. Clarke, who likes horse riding and sailing in his free time, apparently differs from Leahy only in that he is a Liverpool fan, whereas his former boss supports Everton.