Tesco boss in spotlight as Jack’s rolls out first sites

0 Tesco boss Dave Lewis is confident that the new format can take on discounters Aldi and Lidl

Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis will be quizzed over the early response to the supermarket giant’s new discount store format Jack’s this week as the group unveils its halfyear results.

Jack’s, launched just weeks ago, aims to take on German discounters Aldi and Lidl, which have eaten into the market share of Britain’s so-called “big four” supermarkets.

Tesco plans to open up to 15 Jack’s branches over the next year, and the City will be keen to hear how the first two stores

in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, and Immingham, north-east Lincolnshire, have been trading.

Graham Spooner, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said: “There has much speculation regarding the group’s plans for its new discount outlet, Jack’s, and how many stores it will close or convert.”

Analysts expect Tesco, which faces a threat from a Sainsbury’s/asda tie-up, to report its 11th consecutive quarter of like-for-like sales growth.