There have been a fair few adjectives used to describe Sir Terry Leahy over the last 13 years, not all of which are repeatable.

What is undeniable is that the Tesco boss’s unswerving devotion to his customers has changed the face of British supermarkets and the supply chains that they depend upon.

His obsession with high quality and low prices, stripping out unnecessary cost and striving for ultra-efficiency, has served as a model for other retailers to follow, and brought Tesco’s shareholders profits they could only have dreamt of a decade ago.

The flip side of that coin has been the erosion of suppliers’ margins and a constant challenge to produce fruit and veg at a price that questions profitability. As our analysis (p15) shows, his legacy is a mixture of winners and losers in the supply chain. It will be interesting to see what direction Philip Clarke takes Tesco in, but it would be a brave individual that bets on much of a change of strategy after Sir Terry retires next March.

Meanwhile it’s been a pleasure to start work at FPJ this week and I feel very excited by the opportunity to help take the industry’s leading title to the next level.

We will continue to strive to bring you the news, features, opinion and analysis you want to read every week, and I welcome all feedback and suggestions for what you would like to see.

This is your magazine and we want to ensure we carry on delivering the content you want.

I look forward to working with you.

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