Justin King (right) with Chairman Philip Hampton.

Justin King is CEO of J Sainsbury plc, parent company of the UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (889x602, 78 KB)Source: www. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (889x602, 78 KB)Source: www. ... Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. ... J Sainsbury plc is the parent company of Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd, commonly known as Sainsburys, which is a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. ...

King was previously Director of Food at Marks and Spencer and has held senior positions at ASDA. King was involved in the introduction of Haagen Dazs ice cream to the UK and has worked for Pepsi-Cola International and Mars. Marks and Spencer plc (known also as M&S and sometimes colloquially as Marks and Sparks) is the largest retailer in the United Kingdom by sales. ... ASDA is a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom offering food, clothing and general merchandise products. ... Häagen-Dazs is an American brand of ice cream, established by Reuben Mattus, in The Bronx, New York. ... The current Pepsi logo Pepsi or Pepsi-Cola, is a carbonated cola soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo, and the principal rival of Coca-Cola. ... Mars, Incorporated is a world-wide manufacturer of confectionery. ...

Sainsbury career

King joined J Sainsbury on March 29, 2004 and is seen as the company's last chance to win back market share from its rivals and remain independent - the previous CEO, Sir Peter Davis, failed to halt the supermarket's slide in market position despite a £3 billion investment in infrastructure. March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Mayor of Melbourne 1856–57, see Peter Davis (Mayor of Melbourne), for the husband of Helen Clark see Peter Davis (New Zealand). ...

Some significant decisions have been made since his arrival:

• The departure of several executives.
• Hiring of respected industry figures to the board.
• Aggressive (in Sainsbury's historical terms) price cuts
• Hiring of 3,000 shopfloor staff to improve availability
• Supply chain changes
• Dropping of "Making life taste better" slogan in May 2005, replaced by "Try something new today" in September 2005.

One thing King has not changed is the company's association with the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver who signed a £1.2m contract in early May 2004 and a similarly remunerated extension in May 2005. Jamie Oliver on Jamies School Dinners James (Jamie) Trevor Oliver, MBE (born on May 27, 1975), also known as the Naked Chef, is a British celebrity chef. ...

In September 2005 in an interview with The Guardian King discussed the dominance of principle rival Tesco. While steering clear of calls for a Competition Commission inquiry into the No.1 UK supermarket, King did call for changes in planning laws to prevent Tesco from achieving a 40% market share. As of 2005 Tesco had more potential development projects than that of Sainsbury, Asda and Morrisons combined. King also criticised Tesco CEO Terry Leahy for questioning the accuracy of Taylor Nelson Sofres market data. Leahy has argued that TNS over-estimate the size of his company's market share. The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... The Competition Commission is an independent body responsible for investigating mergers, market shares and conditions and the regulation of UK companies. ... ASDA is a chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom offering food, clothing and general merchandise products. ... Morrisons store in Morecambe, Lancashire Morrisons is the 4th largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. ... Sir Terry Leahy (born 28th February 1956) is the CEO of Tesco, the largest British supermarket chain. ... TNS Superpanel is a division of the United Kingdom based global market information group Taylor Nelson Sofres, which analyses the British grocery sector. ...

External links

• Sainsbury's Corporate Website
• Sainsbury's Supermarkets Homepage

References

• Guardian Unlimited. Sainsbury's chief opens up a new front in the store wars Retrieved September 26 2005