Two Sainsbury’s executives to step down in boardroom shake up
The new chairman of Sainsbury’s is planning a major boardroom reshuffle as the UK’s third-biggest supermarket tries to move on from the collapse of its planned £15bn merger with Asda.
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Google’s Europe operations chief Matt Brittin and ex-Marks and Spencer executive Jean Tomlin will step down from the Sainsbury’s board next year, according to Sky News.
Boardroom recruiter MWM Consulting has been chosen to choose two new people to fill the high-level posts, Sky said.
The shake-up comes at a difficult time for Sainsbury’s, which has shed almost a third of its value over the last year. The competition watchdog’s move to block the Asda deal in April has shaken investor confidence in the grocer.
Martin Scicluna, the former Deloitte chairman who took over as chair of Sainsbury’s earlier this year, will have the opportunity to bring in figures who are able to boost appetite for the supermarket’s shares.
Rumours have long been swirling that Sainsbury’s is looking to replace its chief executive Mike Coupe. The retailer consistently denied them, however.
Last month, Sainsbury’s laid out plans to cut £500m of costs. It said it would stop injecting new capital into its banking arm, shutter dozens of Argos stores, and slash pensions contributions.
Sainsbury’s could not immediately be reached for comment.
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