Philip Clarke | |
Birth Name: | Philip Andrew Clarke |
Birth Date: | 1960 3, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Liverpool, UK |
Nationality: | British |
Alma Mater: | University of Liverpool |
Occupation: | Businessman |
Years Active: | 1981–present |
Term: | 2011–2014 |
Predecessor: | Sir Terry Leahy |
Successor: | Dave Lewis |
Spouse: | Linda Clarke |
Children: | 2 |
Philip Andrew Clarke (born 8 March 1960) is a British businessman. He served as the chief executive officer of Tesco plc until 1 September 2014.[1]
He was born in Liverpool, where his father was a Tesco store manager on the Wirral for many years, and gave Clarke his first job as a schoolboy in 1974.[2]
He was educated at the Liverpool Blue Coat School and went on to graduate with an economics degree from the University of Liverpool.[3]
Having initially stacked shelves at his local Tesco, he returned after graduating to join the Tesco Management Training Programme in 1981.[4] Appointed to the Board of Directors in 1998,[5] he then went on to replace Sir Terry Leahy in 2011. He sits on the board of directors of the Consumer Goods Forum.[6]
In July 2014 Philip announced that he was leaving Tesco's board, effective 1 October 2014, which was brought forward to 1 September 2014.[7]
Clarke was due to have a party celebrating 40 years at Tesco but this was cancelled the day before suggesting that the departure came sooner than expected. His leaving came after a disastrous 3 years overseeing the company's first profit warning in 20 years, and an accounting scandal in 2014.[8]
He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife, Linda, and has two children.[9]