Sainsbury’s faced a wave of investor criticism yesterday as it completed its management shake-up with the appointment of Ian Prosser as deputy chairman and chairman designate.
Institutional shareholders have expressed their anger at the appointment of Sir Ian, who was criticised heavily during his tenure as executive chairman of Bass, the beer and hotels chain.
One leading institutional shareholder said it had immediately contacted Sainsbury’s to request a meeting. It said: “We are surprised to hear this. We have a number of reservations about the choice of Sir Ian Prosser.”
Sir Ian will become deputy chairman at the end of March, at the same time as Justin King starts as chief executive and Sir Peter Davis moves up to the chairmanship. He will then succeed Sir Peter when he retires, a move currently slated for March 2005.
Sainsbury’s said Sir Ian was the group’s first choice from a strong field of candidates for the job, which will pay £150,000 a year as deputy and £350,000 a year as chairman.
However, one institution has expressed concerns. It said: “We are profoundly sceptical. Few investors were impressed by him when he was at Six Continents. He hasn’t shown himself to be shareholder friendly.”
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