Sainsbury's bosses enjoyed £7million pay packets as plans to axe 3,000 jobs announced
Top bosses at Sainsbury's were handed a huge £7million before the supermarket revealed it was getting rid of 3,000 jobs. The supermarket announced plans to shut remaining in-store cafes as CEO Simon Roberts warned of a 'particularly challenging cost environment'.
But as some staff are set to lose their jobs, Mr Roberts and his finance chief have enjoyed huge pay packets. Mr Roberts received a staggering £4.912million in remuneration in 2023/4, according to figures.
Chief financial officer Bláthnaid Bergin was handed £2.383million. In total, the pair were given £7.295million - including salary, benefits, pension, annual bonus and long term incentive plan (LTIP) in 2023/4.
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Mr Roberts' package included a £933,000 salary, a £2.054million bonus and £1.836million LTIP, Mirror reports. Mr Bergin's package also included a £1.147million bonus and more than half a million in LTIP.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "It is a disgrace that Sainsbury’s is happy to jettison its dedicated workers while paying telephone number salaries to its top bosses. The company’s sheer greed is now there for all to see - handing out bonanza bonuses for rampant profiteering while workers and customers suffer the consequences."
On Thursday, Mr Roberts said: "As we accelerate into year two and beyond of our strategy, we are facing into a particularly challenging cost environment which means we have had to make tough choices about where we can afford to invest and where we need to do things differently to make our business more efficient and effective. The decisions we are announcing today are essential to ensure we continue to drive forward our momentum but have also meant some difficult choices impacting our dedicated colleagues in a number of parts of our business.
"We’ll be doing everything we can to support anyone impacted by today’s announcements." Plans include closing all remaining hot food, pizza and patisserie counters in stores across the UK.
Popular items will instead be moving to aisles. Sainsbury's also said it was closing 61 of its cafés, subject to consultation.
It is understood it will be making an estimated 20 per cent cut to senior management roles. Proposals are expected to lead to 3,000 jobs being lost across the firm, the supermarket said.
Sainsbury’s, which opened in 1869, employs 148,000 people. The firm reported a pre-tax profit of £277million in 2023/4.
Sainsbury’s did not comment on the pay of Mr Roberts and Mr Bergin.