At the Oracle Retail Week Awards 2011, we recognised the careers of Sir Terry Leahy and Sir Stuart Rose, and this special coverage is dedicated to celebrating their remarkable achievements in this industry.
At the Oracle Retail Week Awards 2011, we recognised the careers of Sir Terry Leahy and Sir Stuart Rose, and this special coverage is dedicated to celebrating their remarkable achievements in this industry.
Leahy and Rose are very different characters. Leahy is quiet, modest and hates the limelight. He is a marketer turned brilliant retailer, who has transformed Tesco from a good UK business into one of the world’s leading retailers.
Rose’s personality couldn’t be more different. He is debonair, emotional and charismatic. A love of fashion runs through his veins, and it felt like destiny when he returned to M&S in its darkest hour in 2004 and turned it around in style.
But they have more in common than probably even they know. They have devoted their lives to the businesses they work for, exhibiting extraordinary self-sacrifice and demanding the same of those around them.
They are obsessives. Leahy obsessed about the customer in the way no retailer ever had. And when Rose brought out his rail of clothes at the M&S AGM, no one could match his passion for product. We have exclusive interviews with them both in this issue, and even having stepped down from their roles, those passions are as strong as ever.
What Leahy and Rose also share is that they are men from humble origins who started at the bottom in retail and worked their way to the very top. Through talent, yes, but also an obsession with delivering the best for customers, for shareholders and for colleagues.
They have been inspirational leaders for their businesses, and role models for anyone making their way in this industry. Retail is full of great leaders, but these two will be remembered as being
Read our tribute coverage of Sir Stuart Rose
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