Goodbye Terry, hello Twitter

There are already signs that Phil Clarke’s approach to running Tesco will be different to Terry Leahy’s

Just a quick one this, and apologies for returning to Tesco, but you might remember how in last week’s leader I referred to how the superficial similarities between Terry Leahy and Phil Clarke- both from Liverpool, been at Tesco since about 1274, live on the same street) - mask quite fundamental differences, and in particular, Phil’s rather more outgoing personality.

Well, you wouldn’t have got Terry doing this jaunty video. And Phil’s even on Twitter and being very open too - for example praising the new Morrisons lab store in Leeds.

It’s all good stuff and long may it continue. Whether they like it or not, social media means retailers have to communicate with the outside world, and if a disgruntled customer can tweet the CEO of Tesco and get a response, then that has to be a good thing. Big bosses are often perceived to be in an ivory tower, but Phil’s tweets come across as down-to earth and straightforward.