Tesco hires big-name pair

Tesco is having a public relations nightmare. After a series of profits warnings, massive accounting errors, and with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - crawling all over it, a new £30 million business jet has just been delivered to Tesco HQ. Can employing a couple of big-hitters to "rebuild trust" in the struggling supermarket really work?

Well, it certainly can't hurt. Richard Cousins, currently chief executive at caterer Compass, and former Ikea boss Mikael Ohlsson have bags of experience which new Tesco chief and ex-Unilever man Dave Lewis will find invaluable.

It might also help that Cousins has a degree in maths from Sheffield University, useful given Tesco's recent form with the accounting sums. He's also sat on the board at Reckitt Benckiser and at HBOS and Bank of Scotland, the banks now owned by Lloyds Banking Group.

Ohlsson, meanwhile, requires little introduction, having run the Swedish flat-pack empire for four years until 2013. He'd worked there for 30 years before taking the helm.

"I am delighted to welcome Mikael and Richard to the board and know that their broad skills and experience will be a real asset to the company in the coming years," said Tesco chairman Sir Richard Broadbent. "Mikael and Richard have been updated on and are wholly supportive of the steps being taken by the new management team to rebuild trust in Tesco and to focus all the resources of the business to deliver value to our customers."

(click to enlarge)

Clearly, these are significant hires and should be welcomed. Tesco shares are up slightly, too, but in a rising market. Much, of course, depends on interim results due on 23 October when, hopefully, we'll hear more on the internal investigation underway and the FCA's own probe.

Technical support kicks in at about 160-165p, and if the inquiries don't throw up any nasties, then Tesco shares might begin to look like a better proposition. We'll see.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.