Tesco has moved Bob Robbins, COO of its UK operations, to a new role just weeks after the executive attracted headlines for selling shares in the retailer days before a profit warning.
Robbins, who was made COO of its UK arm just last year, will now work with the retailer’s group CEO Philip Clarke on a series of unnamed initiatives.
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“Bob will work for me on a number of initiatives which will leverage the skill and scale of Tesco and allow even greater investments to be made for customers,” Clarke said yesterday (1 February). “He will also continue to play a leading role in the UK investment programme and will work in support of [UK CEO] Richard Brasher and the UK team as this programme rolls out over the coming months.”
A day after Tesco issued a profit warning that sent its stock down 16%, it emerged Robbins had sold 50,000 shares in the retailer at a higher price a week earlier.
Tesco insisted Robbins was not involved in the discussions over its new earnings guidance or its plans to spend more money to revitalise its UK business, investment that had led to the profit warning.
Chris Bush, chief executive of the retail giant’s business in Thailand, will return to the UK and replace Robbins. Before his role in Thailand, Bush had been in charge of the company’s operations in Malaysia.
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By GlobalDataJohn Christie, the head of Tesco’s unit in Slovakia, will take charge of the retailer’s Thai unit.
