Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe is set to leave after six years in the role, along with cuts to several other head office positions.

A statement explained that he would remain in post until the end of May, after which he will be replaced by current retail and operations director Simon Roberts from 1 June.

Coupe has worked for Sainsbury’s for more than 15 years and was instrumental in the £1.4 billion acquisition of Argos and Habitat in 2016. However, it appears the attempted £12 billion merger with Asda was a step too far, with calls for him to resign after the Competition and Markets Authority blocked the deal in April last year.

“Mike has been bold and ambitious on behalf of our shareholders, customers and our colleagues,” said chairman Martin Scicluna. “Investing heavily in convenience, online and our digital capability, selling Sainsbury’s pharmacy business and acquiring Argos and Nectar have all been sound strategic moves.”

He added that a “thorough search process” had been undertaken before Roberts was selected as a replacement.

Coupe said that he was proud that nearly 20 per cent of Sainsbury’s total sales now come from online.

“This has been a very difficult decision for me personally,” he commented. “There is never a good time to move on, but as we and the industry continue to evolve, I believe now is the right time for me to hand over to my successor.”

The big four supermarket chain also confirmed plans to further integrate the head office functions with Argos in London, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, Manchester and Coventry, across commercial, retail, finance, digital, technology and human resources departments.

It declined to reveal the total number of further roles that would be cut, but said it would be in the “hundreds”. Sainsbury’s has already cut the number of senior leadership roles by more than a fifth since last March.

The job cuts are part of plans to save £500 million in costs, announced soon after the Asda merger was cancelled.

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