Exclusive Kit Davies Tesco has ditched its traditional regional management structure in favour of one focused on store formats. And retail director David Potts claims the move will provide a definitive break with its superstore rivals ­ all of whom work on a regional basis. Tesco has grouped its stores into four workstreams: Express, Extra, Metro and superstores. Each format structure' is headed by a non-board director and backed by a support team. "The UK industry doesn't get any easier and one of our strengths in the UK has been the flexibility of our store formats," said Potts. "We have become very multi-format. The teams who work for me have been reorganised into leadership of format sense." Potts emphasised that the revamp had not led to any personnel changes. "It was more a question of realigning the team to focus their energies on individual formats," he said. Extras are looked after by Trevor Masters; superstores by David Woodfield (in the south) and Scott Wheway (north); Metro by Phil J Clarke; and Express by Keith Macaulay. "We hope to be able to really further emphasise the understanding of customers by each format and to develop these businesses and give them even more focus. "The great strength of the new set up is that we can tailor the support, and the offer to suit each individual format." "If you have a dedicated director for the high street you know they will live and breathe improvements for the high street. Over time we will see improvements to customers as a result." {{NEWS }}

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