// Sainsbury’s promotes fresh food director Graham Biggart to the newly-created operating board position of chief transformation officer
// Director of change and customer Rachel Clark appointed business unit director of grocery amid raft of internal changes at Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s has promoted fresh food director Graham Biggart to the newly-created role of chief transformation officer, who will take a seat on the grocer’s operating board.
Biggart will lead all key transformation programmes across Sainsbury’s, Argos, Habitat and Tu. The grocer said the move is designed to accelerate its plan to “put food firmly back at the heart of Sainsbury’s”.
Biggart joined Sainsbury’s in 2015 as head of range and space and worked as director of commercial operations, leading its Sainsbury’s Local and Argos business in Ireland, before taking his current role as director of fresh food and food service.
He will also take responsibility for supply chain and logistics across the group following current supply chain boss Sandy Parsonage’s decision to leave the business to pursue a portfolio of external roles.
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Internal changes
Sainsbury’s has unveiled a raft of further changes to its food commercial team.
Rachel Clark, currently director of customer and change, will become business unit director of grocery, reporting in to food commercial director Rhian Bartlett.
Clark replaces Sam Burston, who will become director of CRM and loyalty for the Nectar business, reporting to Sainsbury’s chief marketing officer Mark Given.
As reported this morning, McColl’s chief commercial officer Richard Crampton will return to Sainsbury’s, where he worked for almost eight years until 2015, to replace Biggart as fresh food and food service director. He will report into Bartlett.
Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said: “Graham Biggart is a talented retail leader with a proven track record and he thoroughly deserves this promotion. The new role of chief transformation officer is a perfect fit for his skills and he will be a great asset to our business on the operating board.”
Roberts said the changes in the wider food team would “set us up brilliantly to deliver the next phase of our transformation programme”.
“We have a clear financial and customer plan which, supported by our great people, will ensure we continue to deliver for our customers, colleagues and shareholders,” he said.
Biggart added: “I’m delighted to be joining the Sainsbury’s operating board at this time. We have real momentum across Sainsbury’s, Argos, Habitat, Tu and the Bank and have a brilliant opportunity to transform our strategy and operations to ensure we are fit for the future and continue to deliver for our customers.”
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