Justin King (businessman)

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For other uses, see Justin King (disambiguation).

Justin King (born 17 May 1961, Stepney) is CEO of J Sainsbury plc, parent company of the UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's.

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.

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[edit] Early life

Raised in Dorridge just outside Birmingham, the son of a petrochemical company salesman, he was schooled at Tudor Grange Grammar School (grammar school which became a comprehensive whilst he attended) on Dingle Lane in Solihull.

King undertook a degree in Business Administration at the University of Bath, graduating in 1983.[1] His contemporaries on that course included Capital Radio & Magic DJ Neil Fox, Russell Senior the guitarist from Pulp, and Bob Wigley, now chairman of Merrill Lynch in Europe.

[edit] Career

Sponsored by Lucas, the automotive electrical manufacturers, he went to work for Mars upon graduation becoming production shift manager on Galaxy chocolate, and where he worked with Richard Baker, who became head of Boots.

King joined PepsiCo from 1989 being based in the Middle East, then moved to Grand Metropolitan in 1990, where he helped launch Häagen Dazs ice-cream in the UK as managing director, with blatantly sexual marketing. He moved to ASDA in 1994 and worked with Archie Norman and Allan Leighton becoming managing director of the hypermarkets division. King moved to Marks & Spencers in 2001, where he managed the M & S food division.

[edit] J Sainsbury

King joined J Sainsbury on March 29, 2004,[2] and was 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. He was offered £675,000 a year.

Shortly after joining Sainsbury, King authorised the removal of the Colleague Christmas Bonus award. The Guardian reported: "The new chief executive of ailing supermarket chain J Sainsbury ran into his first controversy yesterday as it emerged that he has been awarded free shares worth more than £500,000 in the same week as he has axed the £100 Christmas bonus paid to staff."[3] The removal of the bonus was a contentious issue, given its consistent payment for 25 years and also given that this was the year Sir Peter Davis received disputed bonus payments.[3]

In October 2004 King launched his recovery programme for the company under the banner "Making Sainsbury's Great Again".[4] In January 2008 Sainsbury's announced twelve consecutive quarters of sales growth and achieved its target to grow sales by £2.5 billion,3 months ahead of schedule[5]

In September 2005 in an interview with The Guardian King discussed the dominance of principal 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-estimates the size of his company's market share.

[edit] Personal life

He lives in the village of Harbury, just south of Leamington Spa with his wife Claire (née Simmons) whom he married in May 1990 in Daventry. They have a daughter (born May 1991) and son (born March 1994). He enjoys dinghy sailing at Hayling Island. A self-admitted petrol-head, King traded his Maserati Quattroporte for a Lexus LS600h L in March 2008 on environmental grounds.[6]

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/news_events/events/justin_king_biog.html
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3282677.stm
  3. ^ a b Finch, Julia. "Business: Sainsburys chief gets £1/2 m as he cuts staffs Christmas bonus", The Guardian, 2004-05-22. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 
  4. ^ "Sainsbury's heads back to basics", BBC News, BBC, 2004-10-19. Retrieved on 2007-03-30. 
  5. ^ Couch, Angharad. "Sainsbury Sales Gain on Healthy Foods, Store Overhaul (Update 4)", Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 2007-03-28. Retrieved on 2007-03-30. 
  6. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7291323.stm

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