Tesco to unveil a brand new strategy

TESCO is following in the footsteps of Virgin Group by developing a common brand across all of its businesses.

Britain’s biggest retailer sells mortgages, phones and insurance as well as groceries.

When it announces its halfyear results on Wednesday it will give more detail on its strategy of restoring trust by unifying under one banner.

The supermarket chain has suffered a disastrous year in which the Serious Fraud Office launched a criminal investigation into allegations that it inflated profits.

This came hot on the heels of the horsemeat scandal when faith in the grocers plunged to new depths. Tesco, and other big supermarkets, has also been hit hard by fierce competition from discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Chief executive Dave Lewis, parachuted in a year ago, wants all Tesco-branded businesses to stand for good value, trust and quality in the eyes of the customer.

The project is being spearheaded by new creative agency BBH. At the interims, Lewis will be under pressure to show he has a strategy and that it is working.

He has previously refused to provide much detail on how he plans to fix problems at Tesco (down 1.6p to 179.85p) and the grocer’s performance is still poor.

Research from Kantar Worldpanel shows sales slid 1pc in the 12 weeks to September 13, as Tesco’s market share fell by 0.6pc to 28.2pc.

That is better than the 4.6pc slide seen 12 months ago, but could lead to half-year operating profits falling 58pc to £385m. In April, Tesco posted losses of £6.4bn.