Tesco finance director Andrew Higginson has been promoted to the role of chief executive of retailing services following the supermarket giant’s acquisition of Tesco Personal Finance from Royal Bank of Scotland.

Higginson’s new position is a board-level role and he will lead a strengthened services team. The team includes a new CEO and FD for Tesco Personal Finance – Benny Higgins and Iain Clink, respectively – and a new CEO for Tesco Telecoms, Lance Batchelor.

Clink is a former Tesco Personal Finance CEO and was until recently head of cards and direct finance at RBS.

Higginson will remain as the company’s strategy director but will give up his FD duties once a suitable successor is found. He says: “We’ve got some good internal and external candidates to look at.”

Tesco and RBS entered into a joint venture to establish Tesco Personal Finance more than ten years ago. Under the terms of the deal, Tesco is buying RBS’s 50 per cent shareholding in the business for a cash consideration of £950m.

The acquisition is part of Tesco’s strategy to grow its share in the financial services, telecoms and internet/home shopping markets. The services currently generate just under £400m in profit but Tesco believes that number could be as high as £1bn.

Higginson says he’s looking forward to the opportunity to show Tesco’s potential in the banking sector and also to have a proper amount of time to devote to the business.

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