Sir Richard Broadbent to be chairman at Tesco

Tesco has raided the boardroom of Barclays bank for a new chairman to take over from its long-standing incumbent David Reid.

The world's third largest retailer has hired Sir Richard Broadbent, the deputy chairman of Barclays, who will join the grocer as a non-executive director on 2 July and become chairman on 30 November. At this point, he will step down from Barclays.

The departure of Mr Reid, 64, signals a further changing of the guard at Tesco, following the exit of its chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, in March after 14 years at the helm.

Mr Reid said: "I am sure that with his [Sir Richard's] wide expertise, his board experience and his personal qualities he will contribute greatly to the future growth of the group." He added: "It has been an honour and a pleasure to have worked with the Tesco team for so many exciting and fruitful years."

Sir Richard, 58, who joined the board of Barclays in 2003, joins Tesco at a crucial time. The supermarket chain, which has operations in 14 countries, posted a 11.3 per cent uplift in pre-tax profits to £3.54bn for the year to 26 February, on sales up 8.1 per cent to £67.6bn. But Philip Clarke, Tesco's new chief executive, said its UK business "can do better".

He also refused to be drawn on the long-term future of Tesco in the US, where it operates the loss-making Fresh & Easy chain, but stuck to previous guidance that it will break even before the end of February 2013.

Sir Richard, who began his career at the Treasury before joining the investment bank Schroders in 1986, is likely to provide valuable advice on growing Tesco Bank. He said: "I look forward to working with a great team and playing my part in helping guide Tesco to further success in the future."