Tesco has today revealed it has poached the highly-regarded Halfords boss Matt Davies to be its new UK chief executive.

Matt Davies will join Tesco from Halfords

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis described Davies as having “huge intelligence and integrity”. He said he will be a great addition to the team, “particularly in the way he leads people and the values he brings”.

It is this intelligence and integrity that is at the heart of Davies’ approach, and he has enjoyed a successful career as a result. Many City analysts this morning saying that his departure from Halfords will be a blow.

Peel Hunt analyst John Stevenson said Davies “has been instrumental in driving the recovery programme through the business [Halfords]”.

Investec’s Kate Calvert points out that Davies “is regarded as the architect of Halfords’ turnaround” and adds that the foundations of the service-led, back-to-basics retail recovery strategy are all in place now and has seen “very good progress to date”.

It is this type of strategy that Lewis will hope Davies brings to Tesco’s UK operation. And it is a strategy which Davies has implemented throughout his career.

Joining Halfords two years ago, Davies’ appointment raised some eyebrows due to his lack of City experience.

But few can argue with Davies’ pedigree when looking at his achievements at Pets at Home, which he transformed into a nationwide, market leading force in pets retailing. And he proved any doubters wrong.

Under Davies’ leadership, Pets At Home focused intensely on outstanding customer service and staff engagement as well as innovative products you can’t find anywhere else.

He also introduced in-store veterinary care centres and grooming parlours to extend the successful Pets at Home product offering into services.

It was not just the quality of the retail offer Davies – who until today was also a non-executive director at homewares chain Dunelm – improved, but also its reach across the country.

Pets at Home expanded from 140 stores to more than 300 while the affable Davies was at the helm. That expansion – and the opportunity for further growth – as well as the work on store standards and product offering all contributed to the business being sold to KKR for £955m in 2010, making it one of the biggest private equity retail deals ever.

Davies became chief executive of Pets at Home in 2004 aged 33, having joined the business as finance director in 2001. Before that he was finance director at Caudwell Communications and before then worked at NatWest Markets and NM Rothschild as a corporate finance advisor.

Halfords chairman Dennis Millard said he was “delighted to have recruited such a high-calibre leader as Matt”, noting his “impeccable service credentials and the energy and ability to drive Halfords forward”.    

Independent analyst Nick Bubb called Davies one of retail’s “rising stars” when he joined Halfords and this morning noted he is now Halfords’ “highly respected” boss.

While Davies may not be taking his dog to work with him at Tesco like he did at Pets at Home, he will certainly bring his boundless enthusiasm for retail, service and product to the UK’s biggest grocer.