M&S tempts food boss from rival Sainsbury’s

MARKS & SPENCER has raided rival Sainsbury’s to fill a key role at its food division as it prepares to further ramp up its ambitions.

M&S grocery boss Stuart Machin has poached Sainsbury’s logistics director Chris Marrow, who has worked at the supermarket chain for almost 14 years. Machin has galvanised plans to reduce prices and develop new ranges in recent months ahead of its home delivery partnership with Ocado.

He wants to target more family shoppers and offer a full range in more stores. But he told suppliers he wants to ‘protect the magic’ of M&S too, which means ‘looking after the things our customers love most about M&S food’.

M&S is braced for its busiest period, when it typically sees its UK food market share double in the week before Christmas.

Machin said: ‘Over the year we have invested in sharper prices on hundreds of our most popular products – particularly on some of the fresh lines in veg, fruit and protein – as we show customers not just the value of the range but the breadth of what we offer.’

M&S is preparing for a huge change in September next year when Ocado will begin delivering its food for the first time. Ocado aims to offer 6,000 M&S products online compared with the 4,000 it currently sells as part of its deal with Waitrose.

Sainsbury’s thanked Marrow for ‘the contribution he has made in leading our logistics division’.

It added: ‘We wish him all the best in his new role.’

The Mail on Sunday has also learnt that former Morrisons supply chain director Malcolm Basey arrived at the M&S food business in recent weeks as head of supply chain operations as plans accelerate. He has since held an interim troubleshooting role at Costcutter.