| Sir Peter Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 December 1941 (age 70) |
| Nationality | British |
| Ethnicity | White British |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Title | Chairman of Sainsbury's |
| Term | 2000–2004 |
| Predecessor | Dino Adriano |
| Successor | Justin King |
Sir Peter Davis (born 23 December 1941) is a British businessman, who was until June 2004, the chairman of J Sainsbury plc, which operates the UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's. He worked for J Sainsbury from 1976 to 1986 and was responsible for all buying and marketing operations.
He was chief executive of Prudential plc from 1995 having joined the company as a non-executive director. During this period, the company was condemned by the Treasury for mis-selling more pensions than any other firm. The Securities and Investments Board ordered the firm to retrain its entire sales staff, due to 'continuing and persistent breaches' of the standards of training for the sales force.
Davis was knighted in 1997 for services to training and industry. In 1997 he featured in the Prudential's television advertising campaign 'The Man from the Pru', built around the image of Davis as a friendly man advising on his customers' futures. In reality, Prudential staff were required to call him 'Mr Davis' when they met him.
He rejoined Sainsbury's on 1 March 2000 as Chief Executive Officer and implemented a £2bn investment in upgrading IT systems, distribution depots and stores. During his term Sainsbury's was demoted to third in the UK grocery market, behind Tesco and Asda. However in his first two years he raised profits above target and delivered significant cost savings.
With the arrival of Justin King as CEO in 29 March 2004, Davis was promoted to chairman. Sainsbury's embarrassed itself with the aborted appointment of Ian Prosser, ex-Bass chairman.
Davis was to step down in July 2005, but in June 2004 he was forced to quit in the face of an impending shareholder revolt over his salary and bonuses. Investors were angered by a bonus share award of over £2m in the face of the supermarket's drop in market share, despite having actually exceeded targets. On 19 July 2004 Davis' replacement, Philip Hampton, was appointed.
Sir Peter has also served on the boards of the Boots Co. Ltd (The UK's largest pharmacy and beauty retailer) Davis was previously on the board of Business In The Community from 1991–2005, having been Chairman from 1996 to December 2001 and served two terms on the Board of the Royal Opera House and was Trustee and Chairman of the Royal Opera House Foundation.
Sir Peter is a Senior Advisor and a member of the Advisory Board of Permira, Europe’s largest private equity company. He has served as a Trustee of the Princess Royal Trust for Carers. His most prominent position currently is that of Chairman of Marie Curie, a cancer care charity in the UK.