Tesco

Task 1: History of a Business

Tesco History

Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen. The Tesco’s in 1919 sold surplus groceries from a stall in the East End of London. The brand Tesco, was first introduced in 1924 when the founder, Jack Cohen, purchased tea from T.E. Stockwell. Jack Cohen then made new labels, using the first three letters of the supplier’s name, TES, and the first two letters of his surname, CO, thus making TESCO. The first store was opened in Middlesex, in 1929, and not only until 18 years later in 1947 did Tesco find its way onto the Stock Exchange as Tesco Stores (Holdings) Limited. That same year, came the opening of the first Tesco self-service store, which is now home to Metro, and the first supermarket came 9 years later in 1956. Jack Cohen had resigned in 1973, leaving in charge his son-in-law, Leslie Porter, and MD Ian MacLaurin. Within two months of this appointment, Tesco had made a 4% market share rise. Tesco then pushed further boundries in 1987, buying out Hillards, who owned a chain of 40 supermarkets in North England, for £220 million. 7 years later they outbid another supermarket giant, Sainsbury’s, to purchase Scottish supermarket William Low, which operated 57 stores. Tesco have now built upon their popularity in the UK, with now moving abroad into paces such as Poland, USA, Thailand, Japan and so on. {draw:frame} Business Activities Tesco is much more than just a supermarket. Although their main purpose is to supply goods to their customers, such as dairy products, frozen foods, confectionery, drinks, etc, they also supply other services to their customers, as a way of trying to increase revenue and customer satisfaction. Activities which Tesco engages in are: Mobile phones – Tesco offer stylish mobile phones at cheap prices, which can be used on Pay As You Go and Contract basis. They also offer fast broadband access, along with deals involving both mobile phone and broadband packages. Gas and Electricity – Offers savings of up to £516 on energy deals, with offers for customers to receive updates via email. Insurance (Car, House, etc) – Offers insurance on all aspects of life, including; car, house, motorbike, travel, pet, life, health and dental. Can also offer quotes for those looking around different websites for cheap insurance.