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Eating initiative. Its own brand products carried nutritional advice and many were branded with the Healthy Eating symbol. The company was the first major retailer to emphasise the nutritional value of its own brands, to customers. By 1990, Tesco was a very different company from what it had been 20 years before. The Tesco superstore offered customers a very wide range of goods, a pleasant shopping environment, free car parking and an emphasis on customer service. Although many financial experts had not believed that the company could so radically change its image, the new approach saw sales and profits rise consistently. Existing customers took advantage of greater choice, and new customers discovered that Tesco could successfully match the offer of any of its retail

competitors. In the 1990s, the company built on its success by developing new store concepts and new customer-focused initiatives. In 1992, it opened the first Tesco Metro, a city centre store meeting the needs of workers, high street shoppers and the local community. This was followed by Tesco Express, combining a petrol filling station with a local convenience store to give local communities a selected range of products. The company also expanded into Scotland when it acquired a chain of 57 stores from William Low. Tesco broke new ground in food retailing by introducing, in 1995, the first customer loyalty card, which offered benefits to regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its customers’ needs. Other customer services followed, including home

shopping for those who hadn’t the time to visit a superstore, Tesco Direct for catalogue shoppers and the Tesco Babyclub for new parents. Currently, the company is adding financial services to its provision for customers. By 1995, Tesco had become the largest food retailer in the UK. In the 1990s, Tesco started to expand its operations outside the UK. In Eastern Europe, it has met growing consumer aspirations by developing stores in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Closer to home, in 1997 Tesco purchased 109 stores in Ireland, which gave the company a market leadership both north and south of the border. Tesco Chairmen 1947-1998 Sir Jack Cohen 1947-1979Sir Leslie Porter 1979-1985Sir Ian MacLaurin (Lord MacLaurin from 1996) 1985-1998 John Gardiner 1997Chief

Executive Terry Leahy 1997 The letters ‘plc’ at the end of its name distinguishes a public limited company from a private limited company. Most of Britain’s famous businesses such as Marks and Spencer, ICI, BP, and Manchester United are public limited companies. All companies with share prices quoted n the London Stock Exchange are public limited companies. To become a public limited company, a business must have an issued share capital of at least £50,000 and the company must have received at least 25 per cent of the nominal value of the shares. Public limited companies must also: be a company limited by shares have a memorandum of association with a separate clause stating that it is a public company publish an annual report and balance sheet ensure that its shares are

freely transferable – they can be bought and sold. Benefits: All members have limited liability. The firm continues to trade if one of the owners dies. Huge amount of money can be raised fom the sale of shares to the public. Production costs may be lower as firm may gain economies of scale. Because of their size plcs can often dominate the market. It becomes easier to raise finance as financial institutions are more willing to lend to plcs. Constraints: The setting up costs can be very expensive – running into millions of pounds in some cases. Since anyone can buy their shares, it is possible for an outside interest to take control of the company. All of the company’s accounts can be inspected by members of the public. Competitors may be able to use some of this information

to their advantage. They have to publish more information than private limited companies. Because of their size they are not able to deal with their customers at a personal level. The way they operate is controlled by various Company Acts which aim to protect shareholders. There may b a divorce of ownership and control which might lead to the interests of the owners being ignored to some extent. It is argued that many of these companies are inflexible due to their size. For example they find change difficult to cope with. Tesco plc. is large, private sector organisation. As it is providing-service organisation I can classify it as tertiary sector organisation. Tesco plc. is a national company, but it is becoming to multinational. Main objective is to make a profit. As Tesco is a