Sainsbury's boss Justin King says top pay out of control

All the fun of the unfair!

Britain is running two economies it seems to me. The good well-structured, well-managed one and the one run by dirty rotten scoundrels. Justin King is the chief executive of Sainsbury's. He came into the business when it was in a tail spin and turned it around and has made a success of it. He gets a salary of £900,000 for being in charge of the company. Considering he has the responsibilities he has, I don't think this outlandish in the commercial world. He said on BBC Question Time last night that pay is out of control in some organisations because there is no transparent link between pay and performance. He went on to say that those running companies need to start listening to those who see 'something rotten' about the pay for those at the top.

Something rotten? The good economy cannot continue to be the last chance saloon for the bad economy. These saloons all have the same name. "Bailout Bonanza!". Utterly hopeless to continue as such. I applaud Justin King for standing up and saying such things. These bosses carrying away cash bonuses for mediocre performance are sheer hypocrites. They'd sack their staff if such antics occurred in the lower levels of the business. How come they are immune?

Shareholders need to get a grip and get these laggard leaders into line. If they won't, then Vince Cable needs to legislate so that remuneration committees are seen as above board and not cosy cabals of self-serving bonus grabbers all filling their pots as if in a sushi restaurant.

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Justin's king of the grocery castle!

Justin King is a Solihull boy made good. There's something about Solihull that creates an enterprising attitude. Maybe it's in the water, although Severn Trent may take some time finding out!

Sainsbury's has had a bumper year. Mr. King says that the company has just had its "best ever Christmas performance", after enjoying strong sales growth in the last three months of 2008. Wow! Does that cheer you up? Even if you don't shop at Sainsbury's it must be good news. The bottom line here is that if you give the customers what they want, they will support the business. That's an age old adage, but it's true.

Mr. King also derided the VAT cut that Alistair Darling thought was so great. One wonders if this benighted chancellor ever consults anybody.

However, when I hear such company results it gets me thinking. When I was in my local Sainsbury's just after Christmas, there was a whole stack of mince pies going cheap. I counted up the boxes, some unopened in their cartons. I reckon there were over 600 boxes that needed to be shifted. So I thought, did the manager overdo it on the pies, or are people round here going off mince pies? I really don't know. I got a box of six for 37p. I freely admit I'm not much use to Sainsbury's as the freezer is full of "cheepos". But at least I'm saving them a part of the costs in removing out-of-date food. These company figures must include the mince pies, surely?

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Jamie Oliver apologises to Sainsbury's

This is what happens when a powerful supermarket teams up with a highly individual and outspoken celebrity chef. If the outspoken chef goes off message the supermarket gets a bit narked. Currently Jamie Oliver is helping to boost awareness for the plight of chickens in battery cages and to push the purchasing of free range birds. Sainsbury's are, to their credit, trying to help, but they are still wary of customer reaction. After all, many of their customers are on low incomes so the cheap chicken deals are still attractive.

Oliver criticised the supermarket for refusing to take part in his TV debate, Jamie's Fowl Dinners, about battery bred chickens. He told reporters: "It is shocking that the people that I work for did not turn up on the day. I do not know why." However, the firm had claims it did cooperate with the show but admitted it did not participate in the debate.

A heated discussion has taken place apparently, but things are calmer now. Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury's is not totally hacked off with him, but he does have a £1.2 million contract to use as as a 'debating' prop!

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Jamie Oliversainsburys

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