Sainsbury’s to cut hundreds of management jobs
Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s said today it would cut hundreds of management roles.
It said the move was part of its plan to further integrate Sainsbury’s with catalogue retailer Argos which it bought in 2016 in a £1.4bn deal.
Sainsbury’s said it had reduced its senior leadership team by 20 per cent since the start of the 2019 financial year in March.
It said bringing together more teams in commercial, retail, finance, digital, technology and HR would lead to a reduction of “hundreds of management roles across the business”.
Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe told staff: “We have to adapt to continue to meet the needs of our customers now and in the future and, while change can be hard, it’s also necessary.
“We have a clear purpose and a strong and compelling set of priorities that will support us to deliver for our customers.
“We already have a sense of momentum across the business and can accelerate this by streamlining our structure and responding to customer needs more quickly.
“Truly integrating our business also unlocks efficiencies that we can reinvest in the things that matter most to our customers.
“I’m confident that the changes we’ve announced today will move us forward and deliver a joined-up customer experience across our brands.”
In its results for the first-half of the year the supermarket suffered a 92 per cent drop in pre-tax profit as costs from closing dozens of Argos and Sainsbury’s stores took their toll.
Pre-tax profit fell from £107m to just £9m, following a one-off £229m write-down in the value of its property portfolio.
Underlying profit before tax dropped to £238m, slumping 15 per cent compared with the same period the previous year.
Sainsbury’s suffered a blow last year when its proposed merger with fellow Big Four supermarket Asda was rejected by the Competition and Markets Authority.