Tesco shares rebound after slumping to a fresh low after it is revealed 'transformation' boss had quit less than 12 months after taking up role

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The woman in charge of transforming a key part of Tesco’s troubled business has quit less than 12 months after taking up the role.

Shares bounced 3.5 per cent in early trading this morning to 162.5p after falling to a fresh low yesterday.

Shares in the supermarket giant fell nearly 3.5 per cent yesterday after Jill Easterbrook said she would leave early next year having only been made group business transformation director in January.

The grocer claimed she had completed her work and that the role was now redundant. 

But concerns she is departing before there are any strong signs of a turnaround spooked investors and the shares slumped 5.6p to 157p.

Shareholders have yet to see much by way of a transformation after second-quarter sales fell 1 per cent, half-year operating profit halved to £354m, and the shares fell 14 per cent over the year.

It is not clear whether Easterbrook, who has filled various positions at Tesco over the past 15 years, has lined up a new role.

A Tesco spokesman said she would receive her ‘contractual entitlement’ – thought to be a year’s salary.

They added: ‘Her role is redundant – we’d always agreed the transformation role would have a fixed end date.’

It is unclear why Easterbrook, who has also been Tesco’s head of UK clothing and had a previous strategy role, has not been moved into a new senior post.

Last year Britain’s biggest retailer was left reeling from a financial scandal in which it allegedly inflated profits by £326m, triggering a criminal probe by the Serious Fraud Office.

The company was forced to write down the value of its business by £7bn in April when it posted a £6.4bn annual loss.

Tesco, along with rival grocers, is in a price war with discounters Aldi and Lidl.

Chief executive Dave Lewis has been improving stock availability, focusing on product ranges that shoppers want to buy, simpler promotions and sharper prices.