Tesco's new boss dave lewis is making all the right noises | julia finch

New Tesco boss, Dave Lewis, has had a busy first couple of days. Aside from firing off a letter to the grocer's 500,000 staff asking them to email him direct if they have any bright

ideas – let's hope he has a hefty inbox – he has been out addressing the troops, turning up at offices and internal conferences to rally the troops. He has also promised to get in touch

with shareholders to canvass their views. The UK, he has been clear, is the key priority. But a new set of numbers this week in Ireland will remind Lewis that this is a business that has

heaps of problems in other countries, too. Three-monthly market-share data released in Dublin showed Tesco Ireland's market share plummeting by a shocking 5.5%, to 25.4%. Ireland's

number two grocer, Supervalu, is on the brink of overtaking, with a market share of 25.2%, but not as a result of its own impressive performance. It is actually treading water. No,

Tesco's problems in Ireland are the same as in the UK – Aldi and Lidl are stealing its shoppers. Together, they now account for 17% of the Irish grocery market. Two-thirds of Irish

shoppers now visit the LADs – limited assortment discounters – as they are known. The analyst Clive Black points out that Ireland is really rather important – it is the biggest profits

generator in the grocer's European business. What is required, says the veteran retail-watcher, is priority, urgency, focus, reallocation of resources and simplicity. The good news is

that Black reckons all of the above have been "clearly present" in Lewis's utterances in his first days. So far, then, so good.