Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has announced this week that Rhian Bartlett will become chief commercial & sustainability officer in September.
It is an expanded role bringing together the group’s commercial and sustainability agendas under a single leadership for the first time. It comes amid a raft of senior appointments and as part of a reorganisation of the operating board in line with the retailer’s current ‘Next Level’ strategy.
In a statement released on Tuesday 5 August, Sainsbury’s said: “Significant strides have been made to develop a distinctive and high-impact sustainability agenda as part of Sainsbury’s ‘Plan for Better’.
“This has delivered meaningful outcomes across carbon reduction, responsible sourcing and health and nutrition. By aligning commercial and sustainability leadership, Sainsbury’s is embedding sustainability at the heart of commercial decision making – ensuring both areas come together to support long-term value creation and environmental leadership.”
Bartlett has been at Sainsbury’s since 2019, assuming the commercial director role for food in November 2020.
All change
Elsewhere, Tracey Clements has joined the operating board as chief retail, logistics & supply chain officer in a move that unifies Sainsbury’s retail, digital, customer experience, supply chain and logistics under a single leadership. Most recently, she was senior vice president of mobility & convenience in Europe at BP, but she also previously held senior director roles at Tesco Express, OneStop, and Boots.
Mark Given becomes chief technology, marketing & data officer, overseeing tech, data and insights alongside marketing and Nectar360. Meanwhile, ex-Asda tech boss Rob Barnes will join Sainsbury’s in early October as chief technology officer (CTO), reporting to Given.
The group is also moving Argos’s retail structures and transformation teams to report directly into Argos managing director and chief strategy & supply officer Graham Biggart. His responsibility for supply chain and logistics will now come under Clements’ remit.
All these changes come after it was announced in July that Sainsbury’s CTO Clodagh Moriarty is leaving to become CEO of furniture and homewares retailer Dunelm.
Read more about Sainsbury’s on Green Retail World
[image credit: Sainsbury’s]
