Sainsbury’s CEO Mike Coupe to retire as successor lined up

Coupe will step down from the helm of the supermarket titan at the end of May after a 15-year stint with the business, almost six of which have been spent as chief executive.

The grocer says that after “a thorough search process” led by chair Martin Scicluna across external and internal candidates, Roberts was selected as Coupe’s successor and will take the helm of the business on June 1.

Coupe will stay on as a director until July 2 to ensure an orderly handover and transition into Roberts’ new role.

Coupe’s departure from Sainsbury’s shortly follows the grocer unveiling that it will axe hundreds of management roles across its head office functions in a bid to slash costs and drive further synergies with the Argos business.

During his time as chief executive Coupe steered Sainsburys’ acquisition of Argos as well as the grocer’s attempted merger with Asda, which was blocked by the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) last year.

Scicluna said: “Mike has been bold and ambitious on behalf of our shareholders, customers and our colleagues. Investing heavily in convenience, online and our digital capability, selling Sainsbury’s pharmacy business and acquiring Argos and Nectar have all been sound strategic moves.

“I am delighted to be able to confirm Simon Roberts as Mike’s successor. Simon has been extremely effective during his three years at Sainsbury’s, leading our store teams through great change in that time. Simon is a dedicated, determined and enthusiastic champion of the customer and of our colleagues, and has overseen sustained improvements in our competitiveness during his time so far.”

Coupe added: “I feel very privileged to have spent almost six years running Sainsbury’s, in a period that has been the most challenging and competitive of my 35-year career in retail. Sainsbury’s is a very different business today to the one I took over in 2014. I have focused on setting the business up to deal with the strategic challenges of our industry.

“This has been a very difficult decision for me personally. There is never a good time to move on, but as we and the industry continue to evolve, I believe now is the right time for me to hand over to my successor.

Martin and I both believe the business is well set up, with a strong management team and a clear plan for the future. I am delighted that Simon will be the next chief executive and am confident that he is the right choice for our customers, our colleagues and our investors.”

Roberts said: “Sainsbury’s is led by a highly experienced and committed management team and I am really excited about working together with our 178,000 colleagues to become one multi-brand, multichannel business. As we come together, I am feeling hugely energised by what we can do for our customers and our colleagues.”