Board of directors

David Reid became Non-Executive Chairman on 2 April 2004. Prior to his appointment he was Deputy Chairman of Tesco PLC and has served on the Tesco Board since 1985. David is a Non-Executive Director of Reed Elsevier Group PLC and Chairman of Kwik-Fit Group.

Rodney Chase was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 1 July 2002. He is Non-Executive Chairman of Petrofac Limited and a Non-Executive Director of Computer Sciences Corporation in Los Angeles, Nalco Company in Chicago and Tesoro Corporation in San Antonio. He also serves as Senior Advisor to Lehman Brothers.

Terry Leahy became Chief Executive in 1997. Joining Tesco in 1979, he held a number of marketing and commercial positions prior to being appointed to the Board of Tesco PLC on 5 October 1992.

Richard Brasher was appointed to the Board on 15 March 2004. He joined Tesco in 1986. He has held a number of marketing, commercial and store operations positions, most recently Non-food Commercial Director.

Philip Clarke was appointed to the Board on 16 November 1998. Prior to his appointment he held a number of roles in store operations, commercial and marketing. He is a Non-Executive Director of Whitbread plc.

Andrew Higginson was appointed to the Board on 17 November 1997. He has recently taken up a new Board position as Chief Executive of Retailing Services, retaining his responsibilities for Tesco Group strategy. He is Chairman of Tesco Personal Finance, a member of the 100 Group of Finance Directors, and a Non-executive Director of BSkyB plc.

Tim Mason has been President and Chief Executive Officer, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market since January 2006. He was appointed to the Board on 16 February 1995. He joined Tesco in 1982.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe was appointed to the Board on 14 December 2006. She joined Tesco in 1997 from the Cabinet Office. She is Deputy Chair of the British Retail Consortium, a Non-Executive Director of The Carbon Trust, a member of the China Britain Business Council, the UK India Business Council and the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change.

David Potts was appointed to the Board on 16 November 1998. He joined Tesco in 1973. From 1997 he directed the integration of our businesses in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland before returning to the UK in 2000 as Director responsible for UK Retail Operations. From 2004 David's responsibilities have included the UK Supply Chain and the Republic of Ireland.

Laurie McIlwee was appointed to the Board on 27 January 2009. He is a Chartered Management Accountant, and joined Tesco in December 2000 as UK Finance Director. He became Distribution Director in January 2005 and has successfully driven a number of key change programmes within the division and greatly increased its productivity.

Charles Allen was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 19 February 1999. He was Chief Executive of ITV plc from 2004 to 2007. He is Chairman of Global Radio and is a Non-Executive Director of the London Organising Committee of the Olympics and Paralympics.

Karen Cook was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 1 October 2004. She is a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs International and President of Goldman Sachs, Europe. She is also a member of the firm's European Management Committee and of the Partnership Committee.

Jacqueline Tammenoms Bakker was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 1 January 2009. She was a Director General at the Ministry of Transport in the Netherlands from 2001 to 2007 and has held senior positions at Quest International, McKinsey & Co and Shell.

Dr Harald Einsmann was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 1 April 1999. He is on the Board of Carlson Group of Companies in Minneapolis, Harman International Industries Inc. in Washington DC and Checkpoint Systems Inc. in Philadelphia. He is also on the Board of Rezidor AB in Stockholm.

Ken Hydon was appointed a Non-Executive Director on 23 February 2004. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Reckitt Benckiser plc, The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust and Pearson PLC.

Patrick Cescau was appointed as a Non-Executive Director on 1 February 2009. He was Group Chief Executive of Unilever plc from 2005 to 1 January 2009, and prior to this he was Chairman of Unilever plc and Vice Chairman of Unilever NV. He has also been a non-executive director of Pearson plc since 2002.

Jonathan Lloyd was appointed Company Secretary to the Board in December 2006. He joined Tesco as Deputy Company Secretary and Corporate Secretariat Director in April 2005 from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.