The appointment of Mike Coupe, who has worked at Tesco, Asda and most recently Iceland was read by many people as a sign that big price cuts are on the way at Sainsbury’s.
Coupe will take charge of the pricing strategy and of relationships with suppliers, who will be expected to lower prices to Sainsbury’s as it attempts to increase sales volumes with cheap deals.
King who used to head the food operations at Marks and Spencer, has already moved to cut prices on a number of lines by around two per cent. He has hinted that further attempts to close the price gap with Tesco are on the way.
Following the appointment, one City analyst said: “Mike joining Sainsbury’s is the clearest signal yet that prices are going to come down a lot.”
Coupe replaces Stephen Nelson, the 41-year-old trading director who joined Sainsbury’s from Diageo last summer. Nelson becomes marketing director, both jobs have seats on King’s newly created operating board.
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