Lord MacLaurin has criticised Leahy’s running of the supermarket chain accusing him of driving the supermarket to the brink of collapse with his “arrogant” and “extravagant” management style.

The former Tesco chair said he regrets hiring Leahy in 1997 and the “whole thing went pair shaped” after his first “four or five years” at the helm, according to The Sunday Times.

“Terry did a very good job for the first four or five years, and I was very pleased about that, but I think towards the end things went haywire,” MacLaurin said.