Richard Cousins, the boss of catering firm Compass who became a non-executive of Tesco last month, has denied he will take over as chairman.

Speaking as Compass reported sales up over 4%, Cousins said: “I am not in the frame for the job, the media have put me in the frame. I am very happy and excited to be here at Compass. In 10 years’ time who knows, but not now.”

Cousins was appointed non-executive of Tesco alongside Mikael Ohlsson, the former Ikea boss, to strengthen the board.

Last month Tesco chairman Sir Richard Broadbent said he would stand down in due course following the accounting scandal.

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