Ken Hanna adds Tesco non-exec role to Inchcape chairmanship

Photo: Ian Muttoo

Ken Hanna, Cadbury’s much-respected CFO who resigned last October to become auto hire company Inchcape’s non-executive chairman next May, has added one more string to his bow by joining Tesco’s board as a non-executive.

Hanna takes up the role at Tesco weeks before starting work at Inchcape on 14 May. At Tesco, he will be the only non-executive on the board who has joined directly from a finance role. Joining him as another new non-executive is Jacqueline Tammenoms, former director for the Netherlands’ ministry of transport.

Hanna and Tammenoms replace Standard Chartered chairman Mervyn Davies, who left because of the conflict of interest when Tesco went into retail banking ­ – rivalling his employer’s offerings ­ – and Guardian Media Group chief executive Carolyn McCall, who left amid the controversy around The Guardian’s reporting of certain tax avoidance schemes the newspaper had alleged Tesco perpetrated.

Tesco’s non-executive chairman Sir David Reid hailed the arrival to the board of a “highly respected finance director” who “brings with him considerable knowledge of both developed and developing markets”.

Hanna leaves Cadbury in April after six years as CFO to take the chair at Inchcape, where he has already spent six years advising the board as a non-executive director, chair of its audit committee and a member of its remuneration and nomination committees.

Cost cutting
The CFO is most noted for his tough cost-cutting philosophy and for being part of the board that secured the successful spin-off of Schweppes from parent company Cadbury, which came into effect last May. He is also well regarded for his communication skills, and will also bring to Tesco links to the private equity world, having served as a partner at Compass Partners.

Hanna joined Avis Europe as finance head in 1984 and has since carved out a long career in the food and drinks businesses, becoming the CFO for United D istillers (before parent Guinness was bought by Diageo), pet food-to-flour manufacturer Dalgety ­ where he later became chief executive ­ and in 2004, Cadbury Schweppes. He remained CFO for Cadbury after the Schweppes demerger, the first anniversary of which will coincide with his arrival at Inchcape this year.

There has been speculation about the potential for Hanna to succeed Sir David as Tesco’s non-executive chairman when his term expires.

Read Financial Director's exclusive interview with Tesco CFO Andrew Higginson.