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{{Infobox Company
|
| company_logo = [[Image:JSainsbury.PNG|200px|]]
| company_type = [[Public company|Public]] ([[London Stock Exchange|LSE]]:[http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/pricesnews/prices/system/detailedprices.htm?sym=GB00B019KW72GBGBXSET1B019KW7SBRY SBRY])
| foundation = 1869
| ___location = {{flagicon|UK}} [[Holborn]], [[London]], [[United Kingdom|UK]]
| key_people = [[Justin King (businessman)|Justin King]], [[Chief Executive Officer|CEO]] <br> [[Philip Hampton]], [[Chairman]]
| industry = [[Supermarket|Retail (Grocery)]]
| products = Supermarkets, banking
| revenue = [[British Pound|£]]16,061 million (52 weeks to [[25 March]] [[2006]]).
| operating_income = £267 million
| net_income = £58 million
| num_employees = 153,000 (2006)
| parent =
| subsid = [[Sainsbury's Bank]]<br>Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd.
| homepage = [http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk www.j-sainsbury.co.uk]
| footnotes =
}}
'''J Sainsbury plc''' is the parent company of '''Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd,''' commonly known as '''Sainsbury's''', a chain of [[supermarket]]s in the [[United Kingdom]]. The group also has interests in property and banking. The group has an [[Estate (law)|estate]] worth about £6 billion (October 2006). <ref>http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=187</ref>
For much of the twentieth century Sainsbury's was the market leader in the UK supermarket sector. However in 1995 it lost its place as the UK's largest grocer to [[Tesco]] and in 2003 was pushed into third by [[ASDA]]. The company's fortunes have improved since the launch of a recovery programme by CEO [[Justin King (businessman)|Justin King]] in 2004. Despite predictions that Sainsbury's would regain second position and a narrowing of ASDA's lead in recent months, the latest figures released by [[TNS Superpanel|Taylor Nelson Sofres]] in October 2006 showed Sainsbury's losing share slightly, from 15.9% to 15.7% compared to ASDA's 16.6%. Tesco's share was 31.4% and Morrisons' 11.1%. <ref name="TNS">{{cite news |title=Asda widens lead as UK's second biggest supermarket - TNS |url=http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2006/10/18/afx3101537.html | publisher=AFX News Limited | date=2006-10-18 | accessdate=2006-10-21}}</ref>
==History==
Sainsbury's was established as a partnership in 1869 when [[John James Sainsbury]] and his wife Mary Ann opened a store at 173 Drury Lane in [[Holborn]], [[London]]. In 1922 J Sainsbury was incorporated as a private company. The first self-service branch opened in Croydon in 1950. In 1973 the company was floated as J Sainsbury plc in what was at the time the largest ever flotation on the London Stock Exchange; the company rewarded the smaller bids for shares in order to create as many shareholders as possible. Today the family retain at least 16% of the shares.
In 1975, Sainsbury's launched the "Sainsbury's SavaCentre" hypermarket format as a joint venture with [[BHS]]. This was the first attempt to launch supermarkets with a large non-food range in the UK. Savacentre became a wholly owned Sainsbury's subsidiary in 1989. As the hypermarket format became more mainstream, with rivals such as ASDA and Tesco launching ever-larger stores, it was decided that a separate brand was no longer needed and the stores were converted to the regular Sainsbury's superstore format in 1999. This is in direct contrast to rival firms Tesco and ASDA, which have been rapidly expanding their ''Tesco Extra'' and ''ASDA Wal-Mart Supercentre'' hypermarket formats in recent years.
Sainsbury's founded the [[Homebase]] DIY chain in 1979. Homebase was tripled in size in 1995 with the acquisition of the rival [[Texas Homecare]] from the Ladbroke Group Plc. Sainsbury's sold the Homebase chain in December 2000 in a two-fold deal worth £969 million. Sales of the chain of stores to venture capitalist [[Schroder Ventures]] generated £750 million and sale of 28 development sites, which had been earmarked for future Homebase stores, were sold for £219 million to rival B&Q's parent company, [[Kingfisher plc]]. At the time, the chain had 13% of the UK market, behind [[B&Q]] and [[Focus Do It All]].
The last counter service branch closed in 1982.
In November 1983 Sainsbury's purchased 21% of [[Shaw's Supermarkets]], the second largest grocery group in the north-east United States. In June of 1987, Sainsbury's acquired a controlling interest. Despite good performance by Shaw's, Sainsbury's sold the group on 30 April 2004.
Sainsbury's expanded their operation North of the border, with their first Scottish store (Darnley) opening in January 1992.
In June 1995 Sainsbury's announced its intention to move into the Northern Ireland market, until that point dominated by local companies.<ref>{{cite web | title = The sourcing in Northern Ireland of agricultural produce by national supermarkets and retailers | work = | publisher = Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue | date = 1998-01-23 | url =http://www.ni-forum.gov.uk/reports/cr19.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate =2006-08-28 }}</ref> Between December 1996 and December 1998 the company opened seven stores. Two others at [[Sprucefield]], Lisburn and [[Holywood Exchange]], Belfast would not open until 2003 due to protracted legal challenges. Sainsbury's move into Northern Ireland was undertaken in a very different way from that of Tesco. While Sainsbury's outlets were all new developments, Tesco (apart from one Tesco Metro) chose instead to purchase existing chains from [[Associated British Foods]] (see [[Tesco Ireland]]).
[[Image:Sainsbury's old logo.png|thumb|right|Old Sainsbury's logo used from the 1960s to 1999]]
[[Image:Sainsbury's.png|thumb|right|Current Sainsbury's logo]]
In March 1997 '''Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd.''' was established as a separate subsidiary of the group.
In 1999 Sainsbury's acquired an 80.1% share of [[Egyptian Distribution Group]] SAE, a retailer in Egypt with 100 stores and 2,000 employees. However poor profitability lead to the sale of this share in 2001. <ref>{{cite news | title =Sainsbury's pulls out of Egypt | publisher = BBC News | date =2001-04-09 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1268099.stm | accessdate =2006-08-28 }}</ref>
On [[29 September]] 2004, Sainsbury's set up Sainsbury's Convenience Stores Ltd. to manage its Sainsbury's Local branded stores and other relevant stores such as ''Bells'', ''Jacksons'' and other acquired chains.
===2000-2004: Peter Davis===
[[Sir Peter Davis]] replaced [[Dino Adriano]] as [[CEO]] in March 2000 in what was seen as an attempt to regain market position. If he is judged on that aim, then he can be said to have failed, as Sainsbury's was demoted to third in the UK grocery market during his term. In his first two years he raised profits above targets, however the by 2004 the group had suffered a decline in performance relative to its competitors and a loss of market share. Davis also oversaw an almost £3bn upgrade of stores, distribution and IT equipment, but his successor would later reveal that much of this investment was wasted and he failed in his key goal - improving availability.
In 2001 Sainsbury's moved into its current headquarters at Holborn, London. Sainsbury's previously occupied Stamford House and 12 other buildings around [[Southwark]]. The building was designed by architectural firm [[Foster and Partners]] and had been developed on the former [[Trinity Mirror|Mirror Group]] site for Andersen Consulting (now [[Accenture]]), however Sainsbury's acquired the 25 year lease when Accenture pulled out.
Sainsbury's is a founding member of the [[Nectar loyalty card]] scheme, which was launched in autumn 2002 in conjunction with [[Debenhams]], [[Barclaycard]] and [[BP]]. The Nectar scheme replaced the Sainsbury's Reward Card; accrued points were transferred over.
In 2003 [[Wm Morrison Supermarkets]] made an offer for the [[Safeway (UK)|Safeway]] group, prompting a bidding war between the major supermarkets. The [[Trade and Industry Secretary]], [[Patricia Hewitt]], referred the various bids to the [[Competition Commission]] which reported its findings on [[26 September]]. The Commission found that all bids, with the exception of Morrisons, would "operate against the public interest". As part of the approval Morrisons was to dispose of 53 of the combined group's stores. In May 2004 Sainsbury's announced that it would acquire 14 of these stores, 13 Safeway stores and 1 Morrison outlet located primarily in the Midlands and the north of England. The first of these new stores opened in August 2004.
At the end of March 2004 Davis was promoted to [[chairman]] and was replaced as CEO by [[Justin King (businessman)|Justin King]]. In June 2004 Davis was forced to quit in the face of an impending shareholder revolt over his salary and bonuses. Investors were angered by a bonus share award of over £2m despite poor company performance. On [[19 July]] [[2004]] Davis' replacement, Philip Hampton, was appointed as chairman. Hampton has previously worked for [[British Steel]], [[Centrica plc|British Gas]], [[British Telecom|BT]] and [[Lloyds TSB]].
===2004 onwards: Justin King===
[[Image:J Sainsbury HQ 1.jpg|thumb|250px|J Sainsbury HQ in [[Holborn|Holborn Circus]]]]
Justin King joined Sainsbury's from [[Marks and Spencer plc]] where he was a director with responsibility for its food division and Kings Super Markets, Inc. subsidiary in the United States. <ref name="jskingbio">{{cite press release | title =Sainsbury’s appoints new Group Chief Executive | publisher =J Sainsbury plc | date =2003-11-19 | url =http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?PageID=418&subsection=&Year=2003&NewsID=374 | accessdate =2006-10-28}}</ref> King was also previously a managing director at [[Asda]] with responsibility for hypermarkets.<ref name="jskingbio"/>
King ordered a direct mail campaign to 1 million Sainsbury's customers as part of his 6 month business review asking them what they wanted from the company and where the company could improve. This reaffirmed the commentary of retail analysts - the group was not ensuring that shelves are fully stocked, this due to the failure of the IT systems introduced by [[Peter Davis]]. On [[19 October]] [[2004]] King unveiled the results of the business review and his plans to revive the company's fortunes. This was generally well received by both the stock market and the media. Immediate plans included laying off 750 headquarters staff and the recruitment of around 3,000 shop-floor staff to improve the quality of service and the firm's main problem: stock availability. At the same meeting Lawrence Christensen, the newly appointed supply chain director and an expert in logistics, highlighted the reasons for availability issues and his plan to address them. Immediate supply chain improvements included the reactivation of two distribution centres. Another significant announcement was the halving of the [[dividend]] to increase funds available for price cuts and quality.
King has appointed successful industry figures to the company; Lawrence Christensen is formerly from Safeway, Mike Coupe joined from Asda and Tesco as trading director, Gwyn Burr joined as head of customer service, Ken McMeikan joined in 2005 as Retail Director, was a rising star within Tesco.
Sainsbury's sold its American subsidiary, [[Shaw's Supermarkets|Shaw's]], to [[Albertsons]] in 2004. <ref>{{cite news | last = Potter | first = Mark | coauthors = Carew, Sinead | title = Sainsbury warns on profit as it checks out of U.S. | publisher = Reuters | date = 2004-03-26 | url = http://web.archive.org/web/20041102154730/http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/040326/80/epk5d.html | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref> Also in 2004 Sainsbury's expanded its share of the convenience store market through acquisitions. [[Bell's Stores]], a 54 store chain based in north east England was acquired in February 2004. <ref>{{cite news | title = Sainsbury's buys chain of stores | publisher = BBC News | date = 2004-02-18 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3500111.stm | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref> [[Jackson's Stores]], a chain of 114 stores based in Yorkshire and the North Midlands, was purchased in August 2004. <ref>{{cite news | title = Sainsbury's snaps up store chain | publisher = BBC News | date = 2004-08-16 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3568730.stm | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref> [[JB Beaumont]], a chain of 6 stores in the East midlands was acquired in November 2004. <ref>{{cite press release | title = J Sainsbury plc announces acquisition of 3rd convenience store operator | publisher = J Sainsbury plc | date = 2004-11-30 | url = http://www.jsainsburys.co.uk/index.asp?PageID=424&subsection=&Year=2004&NewsID=502 | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref> SL Shaw Ltd, which owned six stores was acquired on 28 April 2005 for £6 million. <ref>{{cite press release | title = Sainsbury's announces acquisition of convenience store operator | publisher = J Sainsbury plc | date = 2005-04-29 | url = http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?PageID=424&subsection=&Year=2005&NewsID=539 | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref>
Since the launch of King's recovery programme the company has reported seven quarters of sales growth, most recently on 11 October 2006 when it announced sales growth of 7.6%.<ref>{{cite web | title = Second Quarter Trading Statement for 16 weeks to 7 October 2006 | publisher = J Sainsbury plc | date = 2006-10-11 | url = http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/files/results/q2ts06/q2statement.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref> In January 2006 Sainsbury's reported serving 19 million customers in the week before Christmas, the highest ever for a single week. Early sales increases were credited to solving problems with the company's distribution system. <ref>{{cite news | title = Improved supply lifts Sainsbury's | publisher = BBC News | date = 2005-03-24 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4378035.stm | accessdate = 2006-10-11 }}</ref> More recent sales improvements have been put down to price cuts and the company's focus on fresh and healthy food. <ref>{{cite news | last = Sanderson | first = Rachel | title = Healthy foods help Sainsbury sales top forecasts | publisher = Reuters | date = 2006-10-11 | url = http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-10-11T125316Z_01_WLA4213_RTRUKOC_0_UK-RETAIL-SAINSBURY.xml | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref>
According to the latest [[TNS Superpanel|Taylor Nelson Sofres]] rankings published in October 2006, Sainsbury's market share was 15.7% compared to Tesco's 31.4%, ASDA's 16.6% and Morrison's 11.1%. <ref name="TNS"/>
==Financial performance==
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto 0 auto;"
! Year end
! Sales(£m)
! Pre tax profit(£m)
! Profit for year(£m)
! Basic [[Earnings per share|eps]] (p)
|-
| [[25 March]] [[2006]]¹
| 16,061
| 104
| 58 ³
| 3.8
|-
| [[26 March]] [[2005]]¹
| 15,409
| 15
| 61<sup>4</sup>
| 3.5
|-
| [[27 March]] [[2004]]¹
| 17,141
| 610
| 396
| 20.7
|-
| [[29 March]] [[2003]]¹
| 17,079
| 667
| 454
| 23.7
|-
| [[30 March]] [[2002]]¹
| 17,162
| 571
| 364
| 19.1
|-
| [[31 March]] [[2001]]¹
| 17,244
| 437
| 276
| 14.5
|-
| [[1 April]] [[2000]]¹
| 16,271
| 509
| 349
| 18.3
|-
| [[3 April]] [[1999]]²
| 16,433
| 888
| 598
| 31.4
|-
| [[7 March]] [[1998]]¹
| 14,500
| 719
| 487
| 26.1
|-
| [[8 March]] [[1997]]¹
| 13,395
| 609
| 403
| 22.0
|-
| [[9 March]] [[1996]]¹
| 12,672
| 712
| 488
| 26.8
|-
| [[11 March]] [[1995]]¹
| 11,357
| 809
| 536
| 29.8
|-
| [[12 March]] [[1994]]¹
| 10,583
| 369
| 142
| 8.0
|-
| [[13 March]] [[1993]]¹
| 9,686
| 733
| 503
| 28.5
|-
| [[14 March]] [[1992]]¹
| 8,696
| 628
| 438
| 25.7
|-
| [[16 March]] [[1991]]¹
| 7,813
| 518
| 355
| 23.6
|-
| [[17 March]] [[1990]]¹
| 6,930
| 451
| 314
| 20.8
|}
#denotes 52 weeks
#denotes 56 weeks.
#"One off operating costs" of £152 million incurred. This includes £63 million to terminate the IT outsourcing contract with [[Accenture]].
#£168 million before exceptional costs (cost of "turnaround" plan and write off of excess merchandise etc.)
==Store formats==
[[Image:Supermarket check out.JPG|thumb|250px|Sainsbury's checkouts]]
The supermarket chain operates three main store formats; regular Sainsbury's stores, Sainsbury's Local (convenience stores) and Sainsbury's Central (smaller supermarkets in urban locations) stores. At the end of its 2005/06 financial year Sainsbury's store portfolio was as follows. <ref>{{cite web | title = Company profile | publisher = J Sainsbury plc
| date = July 2006 | url = http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/files/pdf/company_profile.pdf | format = PDF | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 auto 0 auto;"
! Format
! Number
! Area ([[foot (unit of length)|ft]]²)
! Area ([[metre|m]]²)
! Percentage of space
|-
| Supermarkets
| 455
| 15,916,000
| 1,467,000
| 95.1%
|-
| Convenience stores
| 297
| 821,000
| 76,000
| 4.9%
|-
| Total
| 752
| 16,737,000
| 1,543,000
| 100.0%
|}
Sainsbury's currently uses [[NCR Corporation|NCR]] [[POS|Point of Sale]] equipment operating the [[Retalix]] "Storeline" software, replacing their previous [[Fujitsu|Fujitsu-ICL]] POS systems that Sainsbury's used during the 1990s.
===Convenience stores===
Sainsbury's and Tesco are the only two major chains to operate convenience stores, [[Asda]] and [[Morrisons]] do not currently have presence in this area of the market.
As well as its own Local and Central stores Sainsbury's has expanded through acquisition of existing chains ([[Bell's Stores]], [[Jackson's Stores]], [[JB Beaumont]], and [[SL Shaw Ltd]]). Sainsbury's has retained the strong Bells and Jacksons brands. For example, refurbished stores would be called ''Sainsbury's at Bells'' or ''Sainsbury's at Jacksons''. These are effectively Sainsbury's Local stores with a revised facia, retaining some features of the former local chain. Unrefurbished stores retain the original brand and logo, but still offer Sainsbury's own brand products, pricing and some point of sale, without accepting Nectar cards. The old websites are also retained with some Sainsbury's branding. This is still an experimental format and may become Sainsbury's Local if it is ever felt that the old brands are no longer an asset.
As of early 2007 Sainsbury's will begin refurbishing some of its "@" stores, turning them into Sainsbury's Local stores. If this pilot scheme works well it is believed that it will be rolled out across all of the Sainsbury's '@' stores.
==Product ranges==
Sainsbury's differentiate themselves from the other major supermarket groups as "the only supermarket focused on food". A large store typically stocks around 50,000 lines of which around 50% are "own-label" as opposed to branded goods. These own-brand lines include:
*Basics: an economy range of around 500 lines, mainly food but also including other areas including toiletries and stationery. The Basics range uses minimal packaging with simple orange and white designs, to keep the price as low as possible. Equivalent to Tesco's Value range and ASDA's Smartprice.
*Taste the Difference: around 1100 premium food lines, including many processed foods (such as ready meals and premium bakery lines. Similar to Tesco Finest and Morrison's The Best.
*Different by Design: a smaller range focusing on flowers and replacing the previous "Premium" flower range branded "Orlando Hamilton".
*Kids: these lines are for children. In 2006 these lines replaced the Blue Parrot Café range.
*Be Good To Yourself: products with reduced calorific and/or fat content.
*Free From: around 150 product lines.{{fact}} These products are suitable for those allergic to dairy products. (The majority of these are dairy and gluten/wheat free)
*Sainsbury's Organic (SO Organic): Around 500 lines of food / drink which is not derived from food stuffs treated with fertiliser or pesticides.
==Typeface==
Sainsbury's use the [[Interstate (typeface)|Interstate]] typeface for advertising, signage, leaflets and product labelling. Since the introduction of the "Try somethig new today" campaign an additional, pseudo-handwritten font has also been used.
==Advertising==
Since 2000 [[Jamie Oliver]] has been the public face of Sainsbury's, appearing on television and radio advertisements and in-store promotional material. The deal earns him an estimated £1.2 million every year. In the first two years these advertisements are estimated to have given Sainsbury's an extra £1 billion of sales or £200 million gross profit. <ref>{{cite news | last = Wheeler | first = Brian | title = Sainsbury banks on fresh Oliver ads | publisher = BBC News | date = 2003-06-11 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2979646.stm | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref>
Sainsbury's currently uses the "Try something new today" slogan which was launched in an effort to make consumers venture into purchasing more varied goods. Over the years, Sainsbury's has used many slogans:
*''"Quality perfect, Prices Lower"'' The slogan used on the shopfront of the Islington store in 1882.
*''"Sainsbury's For Quality, Sainsbury's For Value"''- Used in 1918 above the Drury Lane store.
*''"Good Food Costs Less At Sainsbury's"'' — Used from the 1960s to the 1990s. Described by BBC News as "probably the best-known advertising slogan in retailing." <ref>{{cite news | title = Stores at war: winning secrets | publisher = BBC News | date = 1999-06-04 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/360997.stm
| accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref>
*''"Sainsbury's - Everyone's Favourite Ingredient"'' — Used in a series of TV commercials in the 1990s which featured celebrities cooking Sainsbury's food.
*''"Fresh food, fresh ideas"''
*''"Value to shout about"'' — A 1998/1999 campaign fronted by [[John Cleese]] which was widely claimed to have been a major mistake. Sainsbury's said it actually depressed sales. However, the company had been losing sales for years because of the rise of rival [[Tesco]]. <ref>{{cite news | last = Pollock | first = Ian | title = What's gone wrong for Sainsbury's? | publisher = BBC News | date = 1999-11-23 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/533338.stm | accessdate =2006-10-11}}</ref>
*''"Making Life Taste Better"'' — Axed in May 2005. Replaced on carrier bags, till receipts etc in September 2005 by ''"Try something new today".''
==Sainsbury's staff ==
{{unreferenced|date=November 2006}}
Sainsbury's divides its staff into different departments across the branch.
These will generally be Admin, Stock Control, Produce, Fresh Foods, Grocery, Counters, Warehouse, Beers, Wines & Spirits (known as BWS), Checkouts, Trolleys and Sainsbury's to You, also known as Sainsbury's Online. Most branches also have a Personnel department inside each branch, as well as other senior departments higher up the hierarchy.
Sainsbury's usually multi-trains its staff so that they can work on other departments. The main focus is usually on checkouts. The majority of staff, regardless of their department will be checkout trained so they can operate a checkout in times of unexpected high demand, or to cover staff breaks.
Sainsbury's considers fresh Produce its most important department. It is therefore often a high staff department within the supermarket format. Within the "Local" or convenience store format, snacks, fresh food and BWS (Beers wines and spirits) are usually the busiest departments but often combined into a single department due to the size of these stores.
Within departments staff are given certain titles. General employees are at the bottom of the section, such as Customer Service Assistants (Checkouts). This is followed by CTS staff (Customer & Trading Support), who are often perceived as assistant managers. They are followed by Department Managers. Duty Managers who rotate shifts and a single Store Manager per store are branch-based and govern all departments. The chain then continues on to regional managers, and head office managers who are based outside the branch.
The management and administration of the operation is based at the company's Holborn Circus site, as well as other locations in London and elsewhere.
==Sainsbury's Bank ==
{{main|Sainsbury's Bank}}
[[Image:Sainsbury's Bank.png|250px|right]]
In 1997 Sainsbury's Bank was established - a joint venture between J Sainsbury plc. and the [[Bank of Scotland]] (now [[HBOS]]).
Services offered include car, life, home, pet and travel insurance as well as health cover, loans, [[credit card]]s, [[savings accounts]] and [[Individual Savings Account|ISA]]s.
Sainsbury's Bank is advertised by receipt called Little Bill.
==Sainsbury family==
Today there is little family involvement in the company. [[David Sainsbury]]'s retirement as Chairman in 1998 brought to an end 129 years of management of the group by the Sainsbury family. As a government minister since 1998, his shares are held in a [[blind trust]].
''[[The Sunday Times (UK)|The Sunday Times]]'' reported in September 2006 that "The Sainsbury family continues to [sell] shares in the £6.2 billion retailer that bears their name — and for the first time their combined holding has fallen below 20%."<ref>{{cite news | first = John | last = Waples | title = Agenda:Freed Sainsbury | url =http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9070-2350259,00.html | work = The Sunday Times | publisher = News International | date = 2006-09-10 | accessdate = 2006-10-30}}</ref>
As of December 2006, the reportable interests of the Sainsbury family represent some 290,404,810 shares, or 16% of J Sainsbury's share capital. All the shares above are held by family lawyer and trustee Miss Judith Portrait. [http://investing.thisismoney.co.uk/cgi-bin/digitalcorporate/thisismoney/security.cgi?csi=10079&action=news&story_id=874881&rns=1] This follows [[Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover]]'s decision to split his 3.89% holding in Sainsbury's between other members of his family. [http://investing.thisismoney.co.uk/cgi-bin/digitalcorporate/thisismoney/security.cgi?csi=10079&action=news&story_id=955019&rns=1]
The statement by Lord (John) Sainsbury in December 2006 suggests that the family may not have sold as many shares as previously thought. The other theory could be that the most senior members of the family, with previous stakes of over 3% (the reportable stock exchange shareholding threshold), could have simply transferred some of their shares to their children (who previously held few shares), rather than having sold shares onto the open market.
However, some shares which have been sold were definitely sold to the open market (according to Miss Judith Portrait).
This fall from around 35% increases the possibility of any takeover attempt succeeding. However a hostile bid for the company may encounter difficulties, without the full support of the Sainsbury family. The halving of the generous dividend yield in recent years, may be have been a significant factor regarding the family's decision to reduce their shareholdings.
* [[John James Sainsbury]] (married Mary Anne Staples)
** [[Alan Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Drury Lane|Alan John Sainsbury]] (1902-1998), son of John's son John Benjamin Sainsbury, a [[life peer]] [[1962]] as ''Lord Sainsbury''
*** [[John Sainsbury|John Davan Sainsbury]] (1927-), a Tory [[life peer]] (Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover)
*** [[Simon Sainsbury]] (1930-2006) quiet philanthropist who gave away £100 million. <ref>[{{cite news | title = Obituaries: Simon Sainsbury | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2392155.html | work = The Times | publisher = News International | date = 2006-10-07 | accessdate = 2006-10-30}}</ref>
*** [[Timothy Sainsbury]], former Tory minister, married to [[Lady Sainsbury]] (1932-)
**** [[Camilla Sainsbury]], daughter of Timothy, married to Conservative, then Labour, [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Shaun Woodward]]
** [[Robert Sainsbury]] (1907-2000), son of John Benjamin Sainsbury, who along with his wife Lisa began the collection of modern and tribal art housed at the [[Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts]], [[Norwich]]
*** [[David Sainsbury]] (1940-), Labour [[life peer]] (Baron Sainsbury of Turville)
**** Clare Sainsbury, daughter of David Sainsbury, wrote ''"Martian In The Playground"'', to help people understand more about [[Asperger's Syndrome]]
*** [[Annabel Sainsbury]], married name Annabel Kanabus, director of the HIV/AIDS charity [[AVERT]].
****Jason Kanabus (1976-2006), son of Annabel Sainsbury, left fortune to Prince's Trust to help young people.
==Cultural references==
*The music video of the title track to [[ABC (band)|ABC]]'s third album, <i><b>[[How to Be a...Zillionaire!]]</b></i>, takes place at an animated caricature of Sainsbury's.<br>
*in the original sketch material recorded for [[Monty Python]]'s 30th anniversary special <i><b>[[Life of Python]]</b></i>, [[John Cleese]]'s character is revealed to the viewer by [[Michael Palin]]'s character—Luigi Vercotti—as having done [[television commercial|adverts]] for Sainsbury's.
==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>
==External links==
{{commonscat|J Sainsbury}}
* [http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/ Sainsbury's consumer website]
* [http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/ J Sainsbury plc corporate website]
* [http://www.sainsburystoyou.co.uk/ Sainsburys online delivery website]
{{UK supermarkets}}
{{FTSE 100 Index constituents}}
[[Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Supermarkets of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Nectar loyalty card|Sainsbury's]]
[[Category:Norman Foster buildings]]
[[Category:Companies based in London]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1869]]
[[Category:Online supermarkets]]
[[Category:Fashion]]
[[fr:Sainsbury's]]
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