Tesco will on Wednesday complete the overhaul of its top executive team by raiding Tate & Lyle to recruit its new finance chief.
Sky News has learnt that Britain’s biggest supermarket chain will announce alongside its half-year results that it has appointed Imran Nawaz to the role.
Mr Nawaz, who has only worked at Tate & Lyle, the food ingredients producer, for two years, will be the first major appointment by Ken Murphy, who took over as Tesco chief executive last week.
Image: Dave Lewis stepped down as chief executive last week
The new chief financial officer, whose appointment will be announced to the London Stock Exchange, will replace Alan Stewart, who will leave in the spring after seven years at Tesco.
Tesco and Tate & Lyle both declined to comment.
The speed with which Mr Murphy has moved to recruit a new finance chief is likely to please the City, which has become accustomed to a period of steady growth at the UK’s biggest retailer.
Dave Lewis, Mr Murphy’s predecessor, stepped down last week after steering Tesco through the most turbulent period in its 101-year history after the discovery of an accounting scandal just weeks after his arrival.
He overhauled the strategy of Philip Clarke, the Tesco “lifer” he replaced, shedding many of its overseas and non-core UK businesses, and restoring the sharp focus on price, range and availability that had seen the chain become the dominant player in Britain’s food retailing sector.
During Mr Lewis’s tenure, Tesco also reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the Serious Fraud Office which resulted in it paying a £129m fine.
Tesco: COVID panic buying ‘unnecessary’
He also played a prominent role in industry calls to tackle food waste, and urged a levelling of the tax playing field for physical and online retailers.
Mr Lewis’s final months in the role were slightly overshadowed by a huge investor revolt over his £6.4m pay package.
While shareholders professed themselves delighted with his performance, they were angered by Tesco’s board’s decision to adjust the terms on which his discretionary remuneration was calculated.
Changing face of retail under coronavirus
Like other grocers, Tesco has benefited from a surge in demand during the coronavirus pandemic, although the big chains have all insisted that they have not earned “windfall” profits because of the additional costs they have incurred in recent months.
Mr Murphy’s principal task will be to demonstrate to shareholders that he can ignite faster growth from a business with a much smaller geographical footprint than the one inherited by Mr Lewis.
A former executive at Walgreens Boots Alliance, he will preside over Wednesday’s half-year results announcement, although he is not expected to make detailed comments about Tesco’s strategy until next year.