Sir Ian McThingy - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive of Tesco Plc (before that Terry Leahy took over and changed the uniforms). I spent 38 years with the international retailer, a company I joined in 1959 and which I saw expand into the largest retailer in the United Kingdom. I was Chairman of Tesco from 1985 to 1997, having been Managing Director of the firm for 12 years. I put a large part of the company's success down to my appearance in the 1989 induction video, which served as an inspiration to all who joined up to about 1998 when they replaced me with Leahy. I also held non-executive roles in a number of FTSE-100 companies. Outside the world of business I have been Chairman of the England Wales Cricket Board and I'm now Chairman of the Sport Honours Committee. Pretty boring stuff really as I'm no great fan of sport. I was born in 1937 in Blackheath, Kent. I attended Malvern College as a pupil. and joined Tesco as a management trainee (I was only going to stay for 3 months - ha! Got trapped and before I knew it, 38 years had gone by and I was chairman. These things happen!) I held a number of more senior appointments in its retail operations before being appointed to its Board in 1970. I was knighted in 1989, and was created a life peer in 1996 taking the title Lord McThingy of Knebworth. I am the former Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board and current Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire. I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1986 (whatever that is!). In 1998, I was stolen from the wall of a staff restaurant and taken to Cyprus, where I got up to all kinds of shenanigans with a Tellytubby and an inflatable Baby Spice doll. I've also done a few bits with Vodaphone or something. . ..

My Interests

Planagrams, Cricket's alright - bit dull! Fishfingers, Horniman's Tea

I'd like to meet:

Norma. Where did you go to my lovely? Summer 98 was ours!

Music:

Rialto, Catatonia, ABC, New Radicals, Barry Manilow, Wyclef Jean, Savage Garden, Fools Garden

Movies:

Induction 89, The Champ.

Television:

Our adverts with Prunella and Jane, Blind Date, Gaby Roslin. Only Fools and Horses - especially the one with the hang-glider...cracks me up that does!

Books:

EMS and Project Future manuals.

Heroes:

Arkwright, Jack Cohen. Nigel Walmart, Richard Branston, Maggie Philbin, Dev Sagoo, Michael off of trolleys.

My Blog

Christmarse

Boy am I fucking glad Christmas is over! What a pain in the arse eh? It pisses me off that us poor bastards who work in retail never get any time off and to add insult to injury, just as I was about...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:30:00 PST

Steering Wheel

Ha ha! We had you going with the old steering wheel didn't we? Hands up all you muppets who said you 'understood' it! Aaaah - haaaaa! Gotcha! It was all a big bloody wind-up! It made no sodding ...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Fri, 27 Oct 2006 12:11:00 PST

New Photographs

Bloody clever these kids today aren't they? 16 year-old section manager, Simone, from Weston Flavel has very kindly digityz...djitalis...put some of my personal photographs from my own personal colle...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Thu, 19 Oct 2006 07:11:00 PST

Jamie Olivers

I met that Jamie Olivers today while I was visiting my stylist in London. Jamie is a lovely fellow and he has some very interesting (if rather misguided) ideas about teaching kids how to cook proper ...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:23:00 PST

D/O

Hi Guys, Just a quick note to let you know that I am on Day Off on Tuesdays so if I don't answer my Tesco Mobile it's probably because I've switched it on to off while I head on off to the golf cours...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Sun, 08 Oct 2006 09:59:00 PST

thieving bastards!

Thanks to Kenny Head for telling me about these clever gits who are using our magnificent new self-service checkout tills to have it away with a load of shoplifted blag. I'm buggered if I can even be...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Sat, 07 Oct 2006 11:46:00 PST

year on year shrinkage and that

Fantastic profits, guys! Well done to you all. According to today's Daily Star, we're taking a billion pounds a second probably! Top bananas! Bugger the high street, that's what I say.Every Little...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Wed, 04 Oct 2006 10:52:00 PST

Project Future

Project Future! Ha! I said from the start that this was a total waste of fucking time but Leahy wouldn't have it! I've just done a Google search for it to and got NO results! What a surprise! I k...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Wed, 27 Sep 2006 11:17:00 PST

crap bags

How do you open those bloody bags? I only went in for some Tommy Atkins mangoes to liven up a salad and I ended up getting very irate and taking it out on one of the trolley boys who was on his way b...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Tue, 26 Sep 2006 01:49:00 PST

All back to mine!

This UK weather has been bloody good. I've decided to throw an end of summer garden Barbeque party for all the retail big nobs. Jim Sainsbury's coming and so is Tony Asda. I've also invited my old ...
Posted by Sir Ian McThingy on Sun, 24 Sep 2006 11:59:00 PST