[4] Born in Belle Vale, Liverpool to Irish immigrants, Leahy grew up in a prefabricated home in Endbrook Road.

His father, a merchant seaman, was injured in World War II and worked as a bookmaker to support the family.

He passed the 11+ exam and earned a scholarship to attend St. Edward's College, Liverpool a direct grant grammar school.

Leahy concluded that Tesco should stop following a strategy of catch-up and start leading through market knowledge, which led to his success in devising and implementing the Tesco Clubcard loyalty programme and also monitoring the shopping habits of Clubcard holders.

Leahy became chief executive in 1997,[1] on the retirement of Lord MacLaurin (formerly his mentor) who wanted to appoint a successor to lead international expansion and increased market share.

Following Tesco's announcement of £2 billion in profits in April 2005, Leahy hit back against protests that the company was "too successful".

[9] Revenues also rose from £993m to £2.7bn as a result of an aggressive expansion plan, which also saw its store portfolio increase from 331 shops to 893.