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Introduction into Tesco Essay Tescos main headquarters may be based in Hertfordshire but Tescos have hundreds of stores all around the United Kingdom. In the year of 1997 Tescos had 586 stores around the country and had an annual profit of i 760m. 2 years later Tescos had increased its amount of stores around the country to 639 with that move came a greater profit as it rose to i 919m. in 2001 Tescos profit rose once more and so did its stores its annual profit for the year was i 1,100m it store count was now up to 692. Tescos offers many types of stores including Tesco Metro, a put-of-town store, Tesco express, this store has a petrol station combined with a retail site, and most recently Tescos extra, this is a new concept and offers more verity to shopping, Tescos extra offers a wider range of products all this is available over 100,000 square feet of retail space. It sells many things including groceries, all types of foods, cloths and household electrical accessories; Tescos purpose is to provide top quality service through selling its products Newport has two stores, which can be found on Cardiff road and Newport Retail Park, spytty. Type of ownership The type of ownership my first company has is public limited company (PLC). This means that the company is of a large size and employs 1000s of employees, a likely reason behind this running of the company is that it offers the security of limited liability, due to the advantages of having shares on the stock exchange. Any one over the age of 18 can purchase shares on the stock exchange, these shares bring in greater capital to the business. The company is run and owned by its shareholders, the public. The shareholders are able to employ high quality managers and directors meaning the running of the company are of high standard If the company went bankrupt then the owners would not be liable for its debts, this is because the company is PLC, and therefor it is protected by limited liability. This means that the company has its own legal identity and its owners are not responsible for its debts, however they would lose the money that they put in at the beginning. Introduction: Tesco Company History Recant history Tesco is one of Britains leading food retailers and has 586 stores though out Great Britain. From 1992 Tesco has grown greatly and has increased its market share from 10. 4% to 15. 2%. This increse in customers has also given Tesco a large amount of profit. Tesco has 164,500 shareholders. Tescos profit is about 505 million pounds after the tax has been deducted; about 50%of this is then distributed to the shareholders as dividends. The rest roughly 250 million pounds is held back for investment in stores and improving services for the customers. The average shareholder holds between one and one thousand shares, but also banks, pension funds and building sercertys, hold a large amount of shares. Tescos share prices have risen since February 1997 when it was 349p to 586p on the 21st April 1998. The shares have peaked a high price of 603p. With this growth Tescos is now the largest super market chain. How Did Tesco actually start? Tesco was founded in 1924 by Sir Jack Cohen. He used his gratuity for his Army service in the World War to start selling groceries in Londons East End markets in 1919. The brand name Tesco first appeared on packets of tea in the 1920s. The name was based on the initials of T. E Stockwell, a partner in the firm of tea suppliers, and the first two letters of Cohen. The business grew and in 1947 Tesco Stores (Holdings) Ltd was floated on the stock exchange, with a share price of 25p. The price at the start of March 2001 the price raised to around 260p. When did the first Tesco self-service store open? Self-service supermarkets started in the USA in the 1930s during the depression. By selling a wider variety and larger volume of stock and employing fewer staff they cold offer lower prices to the public. Jack Cohen opened the first Tesco store in St Albans in 1948. When did Tesco open its first supermarket? In 1956 the first Tesco self-service supermarket was opened in a converted cinema in Maldon. By the early 1960s Tesco was a household name, as well as selling groceries, the stores sold fresh food, clothing and household goods. The Tesco store which opened in Leicester 1961 had 16,500 square feet of space and went into the Guinness Book of records as the largest store in Europe. By buying bulk and keeping costs down, Tesco should have been able to sell at very competitive prices to its customers. Until 1964 however suppliers were, by law, able to insist that retailers charged at a set price for their products (Retail Price Maintenance). The intention was to protect small shops against the lower prices that big retailers could offer their customers. How did Tesco deal with the law on Resale Price Maintenance? Tesco introduced trading stamps so that it could bring lower prices to customers. Customers collected stamps as they purchased their groceries and other items. When they had collected enough stamps to fill a book, they could exchange the book for cash or other gifts. Other retailers soon copied Tesco. Sir Jack was one of the leaders in pursuing parliament to abolish Resale Price Management in 1964. After this Tesco continued to offer trading stamps until 1977. How did the company grow in the 1960s? Apart from opening its new stores, Tesco bought existing chains of stores. In 1960it took over a chain of 212 stores in the north of England and added another 144 stores in 1964 and 1965. In 1968 the Victor Value chain became part of the company. When was the first superstore opened? Tesco introduced the concept of a superstore in 1967 when it opened a 90,000 square feet store in Westbury, Wiltshire. The term superstore was first actually used when Tesco opened its store in Crawley, West Sussex in 1968. How did Tesco change its image? By 1970 Tesco was a household name. The slogan Pile it high and sell it cheap was the title of Sir Jack Cohens autobiography. But as people were becoming better off, they were looking for more luxurious items as well as everyday household and food products. In the late 1970s the company decided to broaden its customer base and make its stores more attractive to a wider range of customers. Many of the older high street stores were closed and the company concentrated on developing bigger out-of-town superstores. Tesco finally stopped giving out trading stamps in 1977 at the same time as introducing a price cutting campaign under the banner Checkout at Tesco which proved to be a major success. How did Tesco maintain its growth in the 1980s? During the 1980s Tesco continued to build new superstores, opening its 100th in 1985. In 1987 it announced a i 500 million programme to build another 29 stores. By 1991, the popularity of Tesco Petrol filling stations at its superstores had made the company Britains biggest independent petrol retailer. In 1985 Tesco introduced its Healthy Eating initiative. Its own brand products carried nutritional advice and many were branded with the Healthy Eating symbol. By 1990 Tesco was a very different company from what it was 20 years before. The Tesco superstore offered customers free parking as well as cheap groceries and a pleasant shopping environment. In 1992, it opened the first Tesco Metro, a city centre store meeting the needs of workers, high street shoppers and the local community. This was followed by Tesco Express, combining a petrol filling station with a local convenience store to give local communities more choice in their shopping. Tesco broke new ground in food retailing by introducing, in 1995, the first customer loyalty card, which rewarded regular shoppers whilst helping the company discover more about its customers needs.