Man who took Tesco to the top checks out after 14 years

Business leaders queued up to praise the man who has transformed Tesco into the clear market leader and an international force during his 14-year stint at the helm.

The BBC's Robert Peston even went as far as to suggest that Sir Terry, who was knighted in 2002 for his services to food retailing, would be identified by most of his peers as "the outstanding British public-company boss of his generation".

Sir Terry, who will leave next March, said he felt his work was "almost done" after taking Tesco to the top spot. His tenure has been a successful one for the company which now has more than 30 per cent of the grocery market share in the UK, according to the latest figures.

In his time in charge of the UK retail giant, Tesco's pre-tax profits have soared from 750m in 1997 to more than 3bn and the chain now operates in 14 countries. The number of UK stores have also shot up

from just under 570 in 1997 to nearly 2,500 this year and it now employs around 472,000 staff compared with 153,000 13 years ago.

A life-long Tesco employee, Sir Terry joined in 1979 and held a number of marketing and commercial positions before being appointed to the board in 1992 and then chief executive five years later. Among the notable milestones since he took on the top job are the launch of Tesco.com and Tesco Direct, and more recently expansion into America with the Fresh & Easy chain.

Tesco's non-food and international growth achievements are seen as being among his major success stories, with results for the past 12 months showing that non-food business generated 9bn in UK while clothing sales hit 1bn for the first time in its history.

But it's not all been good news, with Tesco's rapid growth coming in for heavy criticism in some quarters. The Tescopoly Alliance, which counts the New Economics Foundation think-tank and Friends of the Earth among its members, argues that the proliferation of supermarket stores such as Tesco has put a number of independent retailers out of business. It also claims that thousands of farmers have been forced under because of the low prices they receive for their goods due to the buying power of supermarkets such as Tesco.

In 2008, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall challenged Tesco over animal welfare standards. The TV chef became a Tesco shareholder and tabled a resolution to upgrade the store's minimum chicken rearing conditions to the RSPCA's "Freedom Food" marque. This was rejected by shareholders and Tesco insisted it exceeded minimum legal standards for chicken rearing and all its farms were independently audited.

Despite this negative press, investors have seen shares quadruple in value since 1997, rising from around 1 to around 4 today. And there is no shortage of people prepared to sing Sir Terry's praises.

Retail analyst Sam Hart at Charles Stanley said he had earned a formidable reputation at Tesco. "He certainly has been successful in the role and goes down as one of the great retailers." Jonathan Jackson, head of equities at Killik & Co, was equally effusive in his praise saying he had done a "fantastic" job over the last 14 years.

Despite such a lengthy period as chief executive, the timing of Sir Terry's departure was unexpected and Tesco's shares dropped nearly three per cent yesterday, although this is likely to be a minor blip as the supermarket continues its drive forward.

Banking is expected to be a major growth area, with predictions that Tesco will launch its first current account and mortgage within the next few years.

Its banking arm already has more than six million customers and saw trading profits rise 13 per cent in the last financial year. Many experts are already tipping Tesco Bank to become a big beneficiary of the wider lack of customer confidence in many established high street rivals in the wake of the financial crisis.

All of which suggests a bright future. On announcing his departure, Sir Terry said there was "always more to do", but feels he is hanging up his hat at the right time. "There is no better job than leading Tesco," he said. "I will, of course, keep a large shareholding in Tesco and remain its biggest supporter."