Hot Topic: You'd be forgiven for thinking Tesco had hauled Robbins in front of a firing squad
There was much schadenfreude in the business press this week as three capitalist titans were forced to eat humble pie.
Sir Fred Goodwin became plain old Fred, Stephen Hester gave us back the million quid we lent him, and none other than Tesco COO (sorry, ex-COO) Bob Robbins was berated for his embarrassing £200,000 share sell-off on the eve of the retailer’s first profit warning for a generation.
Reading the papers, you’d be forgiven for thinking Bob had been hauled in front of a Tesco firing squad. Unfortunately for those after an easy headline, the reality is not so clear cut.
While it’s hard to go along 100% with Tesco’s assertion that Robbins’ new “strategic role” working with Philip Clarke is a promotion, he still appears to be part of Tesco’s inner circle - and retains his place on the executive board.
Surely, given Tesco’s current woes, it is more plausible that the reshuffle was already on the cards. Clarke wouldn’t shift two senior directors - Chris Bush and Trevor Masters - half way around the world at a couple of weeks’ notice just because someone made a boob with share dealings, would he?
