Laurie McIlwee, finance director at Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, has bought 13,617 ordinary shares at 364.8p.

The £49,675 purchase brings McIlwee's total number of shares to 340,215.

McIlwee joined the board at Tesco at the start of 2009, having undertaken previous roles within the company as UK finance director and distribution director.

In June, Tesco reported that its like-for-like sales growth remained negative in the first quarter, although the result was an improvement on the previous three month period.

In the 13 weeks to 28 May, Tesco's UK like-for-like sales excluding petrol and the impact of VAT were down by 0.1% from the same period a year ago, against analysts' predictions of slight growth. Total sales grew by 7% including petrol and VAT.

The chief executive officer of the supermarket giant, Richard Brasher, also bought 240 shares at 377.534p just last week.

Top Director Buys

F&C Asset Management (FCAM)
Director name: Mr Edward Bramson
Amount purchased: 350,000 @ 60.02p
Value: £210,070

Breedon Aggregates Ltd. (BREE)
Director name: Mr Peter W G Tom
Amount purchased: 300,000 @ 19.75p
Value: £59,250

Tesco (TSCO)
Director name: Mr Laurie McIlwee
Amount purchased: 13,617 @ 364.80p
Value: £49,675

Bodycote (BOY)
Director name: Mr Stephen C Harris
Amount purchased: 16,948 @ 292.10p
Value: £49,505

Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS)
Director name: Mr Derek W Muir
Amount purchased: 15,343 @ 278.82p
Value: £42,779

St. Modwen Properties (SMP)
Director name: Mr Steve Burke
Amount purchased: 25,978 @ 158.78p
Value: £41,248

Breedon Aggregates Ltd. (BREE)
Director name: Mr David Williams
Amount purchased: 200,000 @ 18.75p
Value: £37,500

Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS)
Director name: Mr W H Whiteley
Amount purchased: 10,750 @ 281.50p
Value: £30,261

Filtronic (FTC)
Director name: Mr Hemant Mardia
Amount purchased: 111,112 @ 22.50p
Value: £25,000

Xstrata (XTA)
Director name: Mr David Rough
Amount purchased: 2,500 @ 967.00p
Value: £24,175

Related share prices
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) share price
Tesco (TSCO) share price
Bodycote (BOY) share price
Filtronic (FTC) share price
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) share price
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) share price
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) share price
Xstrata (XTA) share price
Breedon Aggregates Ltd. (BREE) share price