This is the sixth year of Retail Week’s Power List, but the first time we’ve had a change at the top.

Sir Terry Leahy’s retirement from Tesco leaves an opening at the top of the list, but it’s not his successor Philip Clarke who has taken his place. Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership has claimed that position.

That’s not to intend any slight against Clarke. Given Tesco controls over 30% of UK grocery spend, his new role bestows real power over UK retailing and he has wasted no time in making his mark on the business. But he will be spreading himself broadly across Tesco’s international markets, and with the creation of the new role of UK chief executive, Richard Brasher will be taking on a lot of the day-to-day running of the business.

Retail’s new top dog, Mayfield, epitomises a new breed of retail leaders - relatively youthful, energetic, politically wired in. In the age of the Big Society, and a world where much of the financial sector has been discredited, the political leaders look to retail chiefs like Mayfield, Simon Wolfson, Ian Cheshire and Justin King to provide a new way and straddle the gap between the public and private arenas. All four are doing so skilfully, doing their bit for wider society but getting across the point of view of retail generally and their businesses specifically at the highest level.

Leahy is not the only name to have disappeared from the upper echelons of the table. Sir Stuart Rose is another high-profile exit following his retirement and other longstanding retail names have also left the building. There are some big changes too, as the relentless rise of the multichannel retailers sees ecommerce stars, led by Nick Robertson at Asos, continue their inexorable march up the table. Meanwhile, some big names whose businesses are being left behind in today’s tough market are on the slide.

But that’s the nature of retail. The stakes are high, but so is the pressure, and while there are many figures who demonstrate tremendous longevity, the turnover in the list every year shows just how dynamic the retail industry is.

As ever, the list is subjective - it cannot be anything else. It’s devised by the Retail Week editorial team in discussion with leading people in the industry. There will be the inevitable omissions, for which we take absolute responsibility and, as ever, we’ll endeavour to put them right next year. Give us your suggestions below.

Topics