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Tesco seeks to bolster confidence with double board appointment
Two senior executives are to join Tesco’s board as non-executive directors as the supermarket attempts to restore confidence following its accounting scandal.
Former Ikea head Mikael Ohlsson and Richard Cousins, CEO of catering firm Compass, are to join the board on 1 November.
Cousins has previously been a non-exec at Reckitt Benckiser and Bank of Scotland, while Ohlsson remains a non-exec of three firms, including Volvo.
The appointments follow Tesco’s acknowledgement last month that it had overstated first half profits by £250m, an incident now being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
New CEO Dave Lewis, who joined a month early on 1 September in a bid to reverse the fortunes of a business whose share price has fallen by 50 per cent year-to-date, then rushed in new finance director Alan Stewart in a bid to resolve the scandal.
Cousins has previously been a non-exec at Reckitt Benckiser and Bank of Scotland, while Ohlsson remains a non-exec of three firms, including Volvo.
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“Mikael and Richard have been updated on and are wholly supportive of the steps being taken by the new management team to rebuild trust in Tesco and to focus all the resources of the business to deliver value to our customers,” said chairman Sir Richard Broadbent.