Dunnhumby is a United Kingdom-based Retail media group, best known for being key to the creation of Tesco Clubcard. Presently a subsidiary of Tesco, the company employs 1,200+ people in 30 countries.

The company was formed by husband and wife team Edwina Dunn and Clive Humby. Humby was a trained mathematician, and the couple both worked at Caci. Wanting to start his own business, Humby resigned from Caci, and left on the day that Dunn was sacked. The couple started Dunnhumby in 1898 in the kitchen of their Ealing, West London home.[1] The company began working with clients, including Cable & Wireless and BMW.[2]

File:Tescoclubcard.JPG
A new Tesco Clubcard alongside an old-style Clubcard Key fob

In 1994, Tesco who were second in the UK retail market to Sainsbury's, wanted to create a new loyalty card. The man responsible for Tesco's trials, Grant Harrison, attended a conference where Clive Humby was speaking. dunnhumby had been founded in 1989 by Clive Humby, Edwina Dunn and Terry Hunt.[3] Harrison agreed a trial with Tesco's then marketing director Terry Leahy, and after successful trials throughout 1994, the company was asked to present their findings. The first response from the board came from Tesco's then-Chairman Lord MacLaurin, who said "What scares me about this is that you know more about my customers after three months than I know after 30 years."[4]

Today the company runs a 40-terabyte database, selling information to companies including Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola. Tesco bought a 53% stake in 2001 for a reported £30m, and increased this holding to 84% in 2006.[1]

Dunn and Humby resigned from the company in October 2010, due to depart on April 2011, although they will remain non-executive directors.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Zoe Wood and Teena Lyons (October 29th, 2010). "Clubcard couple head for checkout at Tesco". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-10-29. ((cite web)): Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Rigby, Elizabeth (2006-11-11). "Eyes in the till". FT Magazine. Financial Times. pp. 16–22. ((cite news)): |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  3. ^ "About us". www.dunnhumby.com. dunnhumby Limited. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  4. ^ Mesure, Susie (2003-10-10). "Loyalty card costs Tesco £1bn of profits - but is worth every penny". The Independent. ((cite news)): |access-date= requires |url= (help)
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