Mike Coupe was praised for his takeover of Argos but his planned merger with Asda was an ambition too far Times photographer Jack Hill fMike Coupe, chief executive of Sainsbury’s, is retiring from his post at the end of May after six years in the job. Mr Coupe, 59, who has been at the company for 15 years, will hand over to Simon Roberts, 48, who joined the supermarket as its retail and operations director in 2017 after spending 13 years at Boots. The boardroom shake-up comes only four months after Mr Coupe announced a new strategy to cut costs by £500 million after competition regulators torpedoed Sainsbury’s merger plans with Asda. Simon Roberts will take over as chief executive ReutersWhen the merger was blocked last April there was intense speculation that Mr Coupe’s job was under pressure. Some industry commentators suggested that he should fall on his sword after spending more than a year working on…

Source: The Times January 22, 2020 09:00 UTC