Chief executive, Tesco

Philip Clarke Chief Executive Tesco

This is the first year that the chief executive of Tesco hasn’t topped the Retail Week Power List. That’s no slight against the formidable Philip Clarke though, who has quickly stamped his mark on things since taking the reins in March.

Some might have been cowed by the challenge of following in the footsteps of Sir Terry Leahy, widely thought to be the greatest retailer of his generation. Not Clarke, who has been quick to identify shortcomings in the UK business, while making it clear he’ll take tough decisions regarding its underperforming businesses in Japan and the US if they can’t be turned around.

Clarke is Tesco through and through, having started with the company by helping out his father in the store he managed in Liverpool when he was 14. He is as tough a trader as you’d expect from someone who has worked at Tesco man and boy, and is known for taking no prisoners.

But behind the straightforward persona lies a sophisticated operator, who has been a driving force behind Tesco’s highly successful move into emerging markets in Asia and central Europe, and behind the systems infrastructure that has enabled it to expand globally so efficiently.

He has been quick to grasp that the world Tesco operates in is changing, and an increased focus on multichannel expansion in all its market, and on building brands, have shown a willingness to change. A small, but telling point about Clarke has been his arrival on Twitter, where he is open about his whereabouts and highlights in the business.

With Richard Brasher taking the new role of UK chief executive, Clarke’s day-to-day role in the UK won’t be as hands-on as his predecessor. But you can be sure he will be all over problems like Tesco’s shambolic response to the Asda Price Guarantee, and pulling out all the stops to maintain its grocery share while re-establishing its credentials in non-food.