Tesco

Core Purpose and Values

Our core purpose:

Serving Britain's shoppers a little better every day

Our business was built with a simple mission – to be the champion for customers, helping them to enjoy a better quality of life and an easier way of living. This hasn't changed. Customers want great products at great value which they can buy easily and it's our job to deliver this in the right way for them.

That's why we've chosen 'Serving Britain's shoppers a little better every day' as our new core purpose. As a business, serving customers is at the heart of everything we do – from colleagues in our stores to those of us in supporting roles.

In the UK, we serve some 66 shoppers every second, so it's our goal to ensure every one of those customers experiences just a little better service on each visit.

Our Values help us to understand how to put this into practice:

No one tries harder for customers

• Understand customers
  
• Be first to meet their needs
  
• Act responsibly for our communities
  

Understanding people – customers, colleagues, communities – and what matters to them, and then trying to make those things better, is at the heart of Tesco. It's about listening to people and talking to them using all the tools at our disposal – from Clubcard data to social media – and then acting by changing and innovating to meet their needs.

We treat people how they want to be treated

• Work as a team
  
• Trust and respect each other
  
• Listen, support and say thank you
  
• Share knowledge and experience
  

We know that looking after our colleagues in a culture of trust and respect is essential to the success of Tesco. Where colleagues feel recognised and rewarded for the work they do together, where they have the opportunity to get on and where they are supported in their development as they move through their careers in the business – they in turn try their hardest for customers.

Every little help makes a big difference

• Helping to reduce food waste globally and ensuring surplus food goes to those in need
  
• Making it easier to live more healthily
  
• Sourcing great quality, affordable and sustainable products
  
• Making a positive contribution to the communities where we operate
  

Every little help makes a big difference – it’s the value we live by to ensure we serve our customers, colleagues and their communities a little better every day. It really captures how, when we add up all the small things we do, Tesco can make a big difference to the issues customers, colleagues, communities and wider society care about.

It covers the little things we do every day as well as linking these things together to contribute to the bigger global initiatives in which we are involved. It helps us take the right actions to restore trust and transparency in our business.

Since we first introduced our Tesco Values more than a decade ago, they have become a vital part of our culture – and an essential underpinning of our growth and success. They ensure that every person at Tesco understands what is important – about how we work together as a team and how customers are at the centre of what we do. They are universal values, which have helped guide our people as Tesco has grown into new markets and new countries.

Being a great employer

Why it matters

Our colleagues serve our customers and distribute our products every day. It really matters that we give them the greatest possible support to do their work and develop as individuals. We want all our colleagues to be proud of what they achieve and feel supported to put customers first in everything they do.