Justin King feels underappreciated. Dubbed ‘Tigger’ by his staff shortly after arriving as chief executive of a crisis-ridden J Sainsbury Plc in March 2004, the 45-year-old’s normal bounce is notably absent when we meet at the grocery chain’s Holborn Circus headquarters to discuss his progress in ‘making Sainsbury’s great again’. Sales over the 12-week Christmas trading period were a laudable 5 per cent up on a same-store basis, but he struggles to conceal his irritation with City analysts who, instead of praising this achievement, are already muttering about ‘a profitless recovery’ and the difficulties of improving margins. ‘It would be nice,’ he says wearily, ‘if a little bit of recognition was given to the fact that what they said was impossible two years ago, is now being delivered.’
He is also suffering, although he would not admit it, from being upstaged by Stuart Rose, who was parachuted into Marks & Spencer in June 2004 to fend off a threatened bid from Philip Green. King and Rose took charge of their respective companies within weeks of each other, faced with the task of reviving businesses sliding towards disaster. Both made valiant speeches to shareholders and analysts outlining their plans for revival by putting customers back at the heart of their businesses. Rose made his speech first, pressed into action by the barbarian at the gate, and so similar in tone was King’s when it came that the Guardian carried a cartoon showing him addressing his audience with the caption ‘Justin Rose’.
Last week, Rose received widespread acclaim after reporting good Christmas trading and nine quarters of growth. King, on the other hand, was still judged to be struggling despite eight quarters of rising growth and a share price that has soared from 275p to comfortably over 400p since he joined. He is well on his way to achieving his goal of £2.5
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