Tesco UK's second largest clothing retailer

Tesco has overtaken Asda as the UK's second largest retailer of clothing by volume, according to industry figures. The data, from Taylor Nelson Sofres shows that Tesco is second only to Marks and Spencer, the high street retailer, in terms of the volume of garments it sells. Tesco plans to further crank up its assault on the clothing market. Terry Green, the head of clothing at Tesco, said the supermarket planned to almost double its annual clothing sales from around £800m to £1.5bn as a "medium-term objective". If Tesco hit this target it would be the UK's number one clothing retailer in terms of volume, he said.

Over the past year Tesco has appointed around 100 new employees to its head office clothing team, which now consists of around 400 individuals. Green said this was part of a push for Tesco to hit its £1.5bn target. "We are gearing up the offices accordingly," he said. Tesco's growth in clothing fits into chief executive Sir Terry Leahy's strategy to increase sales of non-food products. The company has ambitions to be as big in general merchandise as it is in food. Last month Leahy said non-food sales for the year to the end of February rose by 13 per cent to £6.8bn. Green said Tesco expected to build on its position in the coming months. "Given our rate of growth I would expect us to consolidate our position going forward," M&S, which is undergoing a renaissance under Stuart Rose, the chief executive, remains the UK's largest retailer of clothing by value and volume. A spokeswoman declined to comment on the TNS figures.