What is Drastic Dave’s Tesco legacy?
Five years at the helm of Britain’s biggest supermarket haven’t always been easy, but consensus says that Dave Lewis has done an excellent job.
Eyebrows were raised when Tesco’s (LON: TSCO) then-chairman Richard Broadbent appointed ‘marketing man’ Dave Lewis into the top job at Britain’s largest supermarket in 2014. Tesco needed an image change after a series of profit warnings and 33% one-year share price drop, and ‘Drastic Dave’ – known for his ruthless approach to job cuts and excellent marketing strategies while head of personal care at Unilever (LON: ULVR) – was Mr Broadbent’s chosen leader. The extent of the necessary image overhaul was made clear just 22 days into Mr Lewis’ tenure, when he revealed an accounting miscalculation which left a £263m hole in…