Tesco's Clarke now in the firing line after Brasher's exit - The Guardian

It was little more than a year ago that Philip Clarke, freshly appointed as Tesco's chief executive, unveiled his new, expanded executive committee. "Given that the size and scope of the business has grown enormously, it is now the right time to enlarge it," explained Clarke.

Of the 13 colleagues on that original committee, four have left Tesco or are about to do so — Andrew Higginson, David Potts, Laura Wade-Gery and now Richard Brasher, head of the UK operation, source of two-thirds of the profits.

Change tends to come quickly in all big companies when a long-serving boss leaves and three of the departees (Higginson, Potts and Brasher) were disappointed candidates to succeed Sir Terry Leahy. Wade-Gery's exit was a straightforward poaching by Marks & Spencer; that happens too.

But Brasher's resignation is different. Clarke explanation — "you can't have two captains in a team" — is odd. Clarke himself had set up the management structure and defined the roles.

What's Clarke implying? That Brasher wanted to play different tactics? That's the rumour — that there was a dispute over pricing strategy in the UK, with Brasher wanting to push harder and Clarke unwilling to take the hit to profits. Or does Clarke simply mean that the big boss should get stuck in himself in central midfield when the team has conceded a sloppy own-goal and the fans are getting restless?

For now, investors will probably accept the line that Clarke is displaying lead-from-the-front qualities. But it's not a risk-free move for him. When he expanded the executive committee a year ago, he was saying the chief executive of Tesco can no longer be everywhere at once. That judgment seemed correct at the time since the group now operates in 14 countries and employs almost 500,000 staff.

If new fires break out in other parts of the empire, Clarke is open to the criticism that he's a micro-manager in a business that is now too big to be micro-managed. As retail analyst Nick Bubb put it: "It is hard to see how this will end happily. Will Phil Clarke take over running Tesco Bank when that goes off plan?"

Whatever else Brasher was, he was a handy scapegoat if the UK sales fail to re-ignite. Clarke is now directly in the line of fire: he probably has only a year to demonstrate his way is best.