Sainsbury's has announced that its chief executive Justin King will be stepping down after 10 years.
Responsible for the 'Making Sainsbury's Great Again' initiative, Mr King was brought in to halt the company¹s slide in market share in 2004. By 2008 the company had announced 12 consecutive quarters of sales growth. He will step down as CEO at the company¹s AGM on July 9th to be replaced by Mike Coupe, currently group commercial director.
Commenting, Mr King said: "This was not an easy decision for me to make, and in truth it will never feel like the right time to leave a company like Sainsbury's. It has been a privilege to have led the company for the past 10 years and I am incredibly proud of our achievements in that time. It is the
157,000 colleagues that make Sainsbury's so special and I would like to thank them for their amazing efforts over the last decade in making Sainsbury's great again. I am confident that under Mike's leadership the business will go from strength to strength."
Mike Coupe, added: "It's an absolute honour to be appointed as the new CEO of Sainsbury's in this, the company's 145th year, and at a time when thanks to Justin's leadership, we have been consistently outperforming the market.
I very much look forward to building on that success for our customers, colleagues, suppliers and shareholders."
