Richard Brasher

He may have missed out on the top job last week, but Tesco commercial director Richard Brasher continues to wield great power over the UK’s top grocer. And that power

is poised to strengthen even further next year when he takes up the newly created role of chief executive of the UK business.

Brasher, 49, was among the few in Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy’s top team to be in the running to succeed him. And while international chief Philip Clarke won the race - appointed last week to take over in March 2011 - the consolation prize is that Leahy has handed Brasher the reins of the UK business, which last year reported sales of £42bn.

The UK remains Tesco’s powerhouse and one headhunter described Brasher as “the engine room of the UK operation”. As such, it makes sense to put Brasher in charge of the UK.

A former Tesco director says that with Clarke having been out in Asia and across its other international markets for the past six years, he could have struggled getting to grips with the UK again quickly, so it is logical to put Brasher in charge.

Plus, the director pointed out that Brasher, like many of Tesco’s other senior team, will not be happy unless he has something big to get his teeth into, and the UK market certainly gives him that.

Brasher - a self-confessed foodie - certainly knows the UK customer. At an event last week he talked about the customer being key to everything Tesco does. That will be Leahy’s biggest legacy, but it was Brasher who helped develop this strategy.

He is known for driving the development of its Clubcard, which last year stepped up a notch with the double points offer. This tactic was thought to be part of the reason that Tesco won out over last Christmas, stealing customers in particular from rival Asda.

Greggs chief executive Ken McMeikan, who previously spent 14 years in operational roles in Tesco and worked with Brasher, says: “His understanding of the customer is hugely impressive, and the fact that he used that understanding and the data that came from the Clubcard to shape the business’s plans has been key to Tesco’s success.”

Brasher is “one of the most analytical, insightful and brightest retailers we have in the UK” continues McMeikan.

He has been with Tesco for 24 years, following brief spells at manufacturing firms Unilever and RHM, and is known to challenge himself and his team.

He said last week that one of the things he says to his team is “when you come to a fork in the road, you follow both”. And Tesco does chase every avenue it can think of, whether that’s attempting to run the hard discount grocers out of town with its discounter brands product range launch, or locking customers in with Clubcard rewards.

But not everything Brasher has touched has turned to gold, and that is perhaps why he did not get the top job.

One analyst pointed out that the double-up vouchers campaign, which ran prior to Clubcard double points, and the launch of discount brands, have not been as successful as the grocer would have liked.

Brasher admitted last week that Tesco had underestimated the spending power of the affluent customer in the brunt of the recession.

But as Brasher said himself: “Fortune favours the brave,” and Tesco has won more battles than it has lost.

Brasher is known to be a tough negotiator and his power strikes fear into suppliers, but he also wins admiration. When he took over non-food at Tesco, it was lagging behind Asda. Brasher pulled out all the stops and Tesco is now streets ahead. He has also pushed the clothing side of the business, which while trailing Asda’s George in volume terms, is growing globally.

He’s a trader through and through, and while he has a big job ahead of him when he takes on his new role next March, no one who knows him would bet against him.