Hundreds of head-office jobs face the axe at Sainsbury's

Justin King, the chief executive of Sainsbury's, is reportedly planning to cut hundreds of head-office jobs in the latest attempt to revive the ailing supermarket chain.

The job cuts are expected to be one of the main planks of King’s turnaround strategy, due to be published on 19 October, according to the Independent on Sunday.

Head-office jobs have already been cut by 20 per cent over the past year. Industry sources believe that another cut of between 20 to 25 per cent is on the cards, the newspaper reports.

The future reputation of Sainsbury's rests on King's plan. Over the past few years, it has seen its market share eaten away by Tesco and Asda.

Many analysts believe the decline has become so severe that King's strategy is the last real hope for a revival at the chain.

By Daniel Thomas