The chief executive of Tesco UK is to step down after six years leading Britain’s biggest supermarket chain.

Jason Tarry said he felt it was the “right time for me to move on” and revealed he would leave his post in March 2024.

He will be replaced by former Aldi UK and Ireland chief executive Matthew Barnes.

Mr Tarry has worked for Tesco for 33 years. He joined the firm on a graduate recruitment scheme in 1990 and worked his way up to become CEO in 2018.

He has been credited with turning around the retail giant’s fortunes as he steered it through the aftermath of its accounting scandal and the COVID pandemic.

Tesco recently reported a 13.5% leap in adjusted operating profits, for the first half of its financial year, to £1.4bn.

Group chief executive Ken Murphy said Mr Tarry had made “an immense contribution”.

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He added: “Under his leadership, Tesco today is the most competitive we have ever been, built on exceptionally strong foundations of doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues.”

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In a statement, Mr Tarry, chief executive of the chain in the UK and Ireland, said: “Little could I have imagined 33 years ago, the journey I would go on with Tesco.

“My life in Tesco has been a wonderful experience. This decision was not made easily but this is the right time for me to move on.”

New chief executive Mr Barnes, who was Aldi’s UK and Ireland boss from 2015 to 2018, stood down from the board of Aldi’s parent firm earlier this year.

It comes as Tesco has tried to compete with Aldi by price-matching more than 500 of its most popular products.

Mr Barnes said: “I come to this role with a real sense of determination to ensure that we build on the progress of the last number of years and deliver for our customers and colleagues.”

Mr Murphy added he hoped the former Aldi boss’s “extensive retail experience, competitive spirit and challenger mindset” would help the chain “evolve our thinking about what customers will want from Tesco in the future”.

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