Tesco starts the year with store closures and discounts in Great Britain

Tesco is to close its headquarters in Cheshunt and 43 unprofitable stores as part of a drastic plan to turnaround the supermarket retailer.

Dave Lewis, the new chief executive, also said that he intends to close Tesco’s defined benefit pension scheme – one of the most generous in the country – sell the analytics business behind Clubcard, scrap the dividend payout to shareholders, and slash 30pc of the retailer's central costs.

In addition, Tesco has poached Matt Davies, the highly-rated chief executive of Halfords, to become its new UK chief executive. (Kertész Róbert, MTI)