The “Boss” label on the back of Tesco Ireland chief Geoff Byrne’s jeans seems apt as he strides across the upstairs atrium of the College Green Hotel in Dublin towards a meeting room for our interview.

“It’s the look I’m going for,” he jokes. “There’s a subliminal message in there.”

The Hugo Boss jeans look a good fit – as he does, as the newish leader of the Irish arm of the British supermarket chain.

In June, Byrne formally became chief executive of Tesco Ireland, having filled the role last year on an interim basis while his predecessor Natasha Adams was on leave.

It’s a big role within corporate Ireland. Latest filed accounts for Tesco’s Irish subsidiary show it made a pretax profit of €120.3 million on turnover of €3.26 billion. And it has a 23 per cent market share here.

It’s a high-volume, low-margin business. Some 80 per cent of its overall sales are from food and drink, with non-food items making up the balance.

There are about 1.8 million “active” members of its Clubcard loyalty scheme.

Byrne says Tesco’s biggest challenge right now is “keeping prices down for customers”, with inflation in grocery prices running at about 5 per cent, according to recent data from the Central Statistics Office.

“We’re working really hard at that while also trying to keep our staff and colleagues happy to provide enough reward to keep it meaningful for them, while giving a bit back to your shareholders.”

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It’s a juggling act.

Byrne says the spike in grocery prices has been driven b