Davis faces fight at Sainsbury

SIR Peter Davis, chief executive of Sainsbury, faces mounting pressure to abandon plans to become the next chairman.

Giving up the chair would make it easier for the supermarkets giant to appoint a new chief executive, senior figures close to the company have told Financial Mail.

Davis, 62 next month, intends to take over as chairman next March when he gives up the chief executive's role, which he has held since 2000.

But it has become increasingly clear that candidates to replace Davis are voicing anxieties about taking the job while he remains.

And Sainsbury, which is losing ground to rivals and has produced a string of sales disappointments, is desperate to name a new chief executive as quickly as possible.

One investment banker strongly involved with food retailing said: 'There is a danger that the longer this goes on, the greater the perception that they can't find a new chief executive because no one wants to take on the job while having the previous incumbent sitting upstairs.'

Sainsbury is expected this week to unveil profits of about £360m for the 28 weeks to 11 October, up from £342m in the same period last year.

The company refused to comment on its attempts to find a new chief executive, or the future of Davis.

Justin King, head of Marks & Spencer's successful food operation, is being tipped as the most likely successor. An insider said: 'He is very ambitious, and there is no obvious promotion opening for him in M&S for a long time to come.'

Paul Mason, formerly with Asda and clothing retailer Matalan, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate. And some food retail analysts believe that Tory MP Archie Norman, who masterminded the turnround of Asda in the Nineties, might be lured by the challenge.

Waitrose grabs a star

THE woman behind some of Sainsbury's most high-profile recent innovations is joining rival Waitrose. Diana Hunter, 35, above, who pioneered the experiment with Sainsbury's Markets - selling delicatessen goods from traditional counters at the front of the store - is to become Waitrose's head of merchandising, responsible for organising the use of space and the design of new stores.