Terry Leahy

Infobox Person
name = Sir Terry Leahy


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birth_name = Terence Patrick Leahy
birth_date = 28 February 1956
birth_place = Liverpool
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nationality = English
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employer = Tesco
occupation = Chief Executive Officer
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footnotes = Sir Terry Leahy (born 28 February 1956)cite web|url=http://www.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=AwardsSir_Terry_Leahy&entry1=AwardsNav1&infositelayout=site_info_nav_awards&rf=0|title=Sir Terry Leahy|publisher=The Economist|accessdate=2008-09-01] is the CEO of Tesco, the largest British supermarket chain.He lives in Cuffley, Hertfordshire,cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7344045.stm|title=Gran in Tesco boss planning war|publisher=BBC|accessdate=2008-09-01] with his wife, Alison, and three children.cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3624645.stm|title=Profile: Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy|publisher=BBC|accessdate=2008-09-01]

Early life

Leahy was born in and grew up in Liverpool, the third of four brothers. He attended St. Edward's College which was, at the time, a direct grant Catholic school. [cite web|url=http://www.st-edwards.co.uk/prospectus/history.html|title=St. Edward's College - History|accessdate=2008-09-01] Leahy had worked briefly stacking shelves in the Wandsworth, London branch of Tesco in school holidays, travelling to London because he could not find work in Liverpool.cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/sir-terry-leahy-the-robert-mugabe-of-retail-bites-back-866499.html|title=Sir Terry Leahy: The 'Robert Mugabe of retail' bites back|publisher=The Independent|accessdate=2008-09-01] He was the only one of his brothers who didn't leave school at the age of sixteen and graduated from UMIST with an upper secondFact|date=September 2008 BSc in Management Sciences in 1977.cite web|url=http://www.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/ourreputation/distinguishedalumni/terryleahy/|title=Terry Leahy|publisher=University of Manchester|accessdate=2008-09-01]

Career

Leahy returned to Tesco in 1979 as a marketing executive.Thanks to his success in devising and implementing the Tesco Clubcard loyalty program,Fact|date=September 2008 he was appointed to the board in 1992 and became chief executive in 1997, on the retirement of mentor Lord MacLaurin. Tesco has stretched its lead as the UK's largest retailer since then and has grown significantly internationally.Fact|date=September 2008 He was chosen as Britain's "Business Leader of the Year" in 2003 and the Fortune European Businessman of the Year for 2004. In 2005 he was selected as Britain's most admired business leader by "Management Today," [cite web|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8210-1866702,00.html|title=Retail star hit by tall poppy syndrome|publisher=The Times|accessdate=2008-09-01] and a Guardian Unlimited Politics panel found him to be the most influential non-elected person in Britain in 2007. [cite web|url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,2058199,00.html|title=Guardian Unlimited Politics top 50|publisher=The Guardian|accessdate=2008-09-01]

Following Tesco's announcement of £2 billion in profits in April 2005, Leahy hit back against protests that the company was "too successful". He argued that such protests against a successful company are unique to the UK.Fact|date=September 2008

Honours

Leahy was granted the freedom of the city of Liverpool and knighted in 2002. He was Chancellor of UMIST, his alma mater, from that year until 1 October 2004 when he became a co-chancellor of the newly-formed University of Manchester. [citeweb|url=http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/facts/who/officers/|title=Senior Officers|publisher=University of Manchester|accessdate=2008-09-01]

Everton Football Club

Leahy is an Everton Football Club supporter and is a special advisor to the club. [cite web|url=http://www.evertonfc.com/news/archive/sir-terry-joins-blues-exclusive.html|title=Sir Terry joins blues|publisher=Everton F.C.|accessdate=2008-09-01] He is also part of a proposed ground move to Kirkby which would have a new ground with a Tesco supermarket, a hotel, a range of high street shops and extensive car parking. [cite web|url=http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0400evertonfc/0150kingsdock/tm_objectid=17235256%26method=full%26siteid=50061%26headline=blues%2dchoose%2dkirkby%2dsite-name_page.html|title=Blues choose Kirkby site|publisher=icLiverpool|accessdate=2008-09-01] In April 2008 a grandmother whose house would have to be demolished to make way for the new stadium applied for planning permission to knock down Leahy's private mansion in Hertfordshire and build a communal garden on the site.

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