Paula Nickolds will leave her role as general merchandise commercial director at Sainsburys to become chief executive at The White Company at the end of March.

The group announced her departure as part of wider changes to its operating board.

Nickolds worked at Sainsburys for three years where was involved in a number of brands, including Argos, Habitat and Tu.

Graham Biggart, chief transformation officer, will take on commercial responsibility for general merchandise and clothing and has been appointed chief transformation and general merchandise commercial officer.

Matt Leeser, currently Business Unit Director – Seasonal, Toys and Electricals, will step into an expanded role to become general merchandise commercial director.

Rhian Bartlett, who is currently on the operating board as food commercial director, will become chief food commercial officer, to work on Sainsbury’s food strategy.

Tim Fallowfield will retire from his role as company secretary and corporate services director after more than 22 years with Sainsbury’s. He received an OBE in the 2020 New Year’s Honours List for his work in raising awareness of the benefits of recruiting and retaining disabled people.

“As we look ahead to the next phase of our strategy, I’m pleased to confirm this new structure for our operating board, which will help us become even more focused and further accelerate our transformation and performance,” said Simon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury plc. “I look forward to sharing more on the next phase of our plan at our forthcoming Strategy Update, building on all we’ve done to put food back at the heart of Sainsbury’s.”

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