Sainsbury to axe 100 managers

A FIFTH of Sainsbury's store bosses face the axe under a sweeping review of operations at Britain's second-biggest supermarket chain.

The move, which will affect 100 managers, is part of a recovery programme by chief executive Sir Peter Davis. He has promised to deliver savings of £150 million a year in his drive to close the gap with market leader Tesco.

Sainsbury, which cut 200 head office jobs last November when it moved to its new HQ in Holborn, central London, is now turning its attention to its 450 stores.

News of the latest cull was broken to the store managers on Tuesday at a specially convened conference. They were given a pep talk by senior executives on improving their performance, then 100 were singled out to be told they were facing the review, which could lead to redundancy for many.

The company later sought to play down the move as a 'competency audit'.

It claims the shake-up of store management is part of its Delivering Great Service programme, which encourages staff to be 'proactive and exceed customer expectations'.

However, the group has admitted that the decision could lead to a clear-out of a number of the £50,000-a-year-plus managers, who are the most senior workers in its stores.

In a further development, it has emerged that several senior store staff at a rival supermarket chain were approached as far back as last November about filling store manager roles at Sainsbury.

Figures from individual stores' performances over the Christmas period will be taken into account in the review.

Sainsbury will tomorrow report third-quarter figures, covering the 12 weeks to January 6. It is expected to announce like-for-like sales growth of between five and seven%, including petrol. Such increases would be in line with the rest of the supermarket sector.

In the equivalent period 12 months earlier, Sainsbury was still struggling, showing only minimal underlying sales growth.

A spokeswoman said: 'We regularly review our competencies across the business and the current activity regarding store managers is one of these reviews.

'The role of the store manager is of paramount importance to the business and the success of any store is very much dependent on the manager's capability.'