Alan John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury (13 August 1902 – 21 October 1998), was a British business executive and a leading member of the supermarket
Sainsbury family
The Sainsbury family (also Lord Sainsbury and family and incorrectly the Sainsbury's family) founded Sainsbury's, the UK's second-largest supermarket chain. Today, the family has many interests, including business, politics, philanthropy, arts, and ...
.
Early and private life
Sainsbury was the son of Mabel Miriam ( Van den Bergh) and John Benjamin Sainsbury. His paternal grandparents,
John James Sainsbury and
Mary Ann Staples
Mary Ann Sainsbury (''née'' Staples; 30 June 1849 – 9 June 1927) was the wife of John James Sainsbury, the founder of the Sainsbury's supermarket chain. The supermarket chain named their official brand font 'Mary-Ann', used in-store, onl ...
, established a grocer's at 173
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks
T ...
in 1869 which became the British supermarket chain
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...
. His mother was from a Dutch Jewish family, the daughter of Jacob Van den Bergh.
He and his first wife, Doreen, with whom he married in 1925 had three sons:
*
John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover, later Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover,
KG
*
Simon David Davan Sainsbury
*
Timothy, later Sir Timothy Alan Davan Sainsbury
He later remarried in 1944 and had a daughter, Paulette. As he was divorced from his first wife, he spent little time with his sons John Davan, Simon and Timothy, and so they only got to know their father when they joined the family firm.
On 3 May 1962, he was the first of three members of the Sainsbury family to receive a life peerage. He took the title Baron Sainsbury, of
Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks
T ...
in the
Borough of Holborn.
As the first peerage using the family name, the territorial designation – referencing the location of the family's first shop – did not form part of the title. When Alan's son
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
became a peer in 1989, he took the title ''Baron Sainsbury of Preston Candover'' to differentiate between them. In the same way when Alan's nephew
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
was ennobled in 1997 he was made ''Baron Sainsbury of Turville''.
Business career
Educated at
Haileybury College Haileybury may refer to:
Australia
* Haileybury (Melbourne), a school in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
** Haileybury Rendall School, an offshoot in Berrimah, North Territory, Australia
China
* Haileybury International School, an internatio ...
, Alan joined Sainsbury's in 1921 aged 17, the same year his youngest uncle, Paul Sainsbury, joined the family firm. He began his career working alongside his uncles as a buyer. He became a director of the Company, then known as J. Sainsbury Ltd., in 1933 and became joint managing director of Sainsbury's with his brother
Robert Sainsbury
Sir Robert James Sainsbury (24 October 19062 April 2000), was the son of John Benjamin Sainsbury (the eldest son of John James Sainsbury, the founder of Sainsbury's supermarkets) and along with his wife Lisa began the collection of modern and ...
in 1938 after his father,
John Benjamin Sainsbury (the eldest son of Sainsbury's founder
John James Sainsbury), had a minor heart attack.
Alan Sainsbury was instrumental in bringing the self-service supermarket to Britain and shaping many of the conditions by which we shop for food today. On a trip to America he saw the experience of self-service supermarkets, and John James Sainsbury's show-piece Croydon branch of Sainsbury's was converted to self-service in 1950. On handing out wire baskets on opening day, one customer was so annoyed, she threw a basket in Alan Sainsbury's face, and one member of staff refused to be an assistant in a self-service supermarket.
In 1956, he became chairman after the death of his father, John Benjamin Sainsbury.
The original shop at 173 Drury Lane closed in 1958. The Manager Mr Pawsey handed Alan Sainsbury the key, saying, 'Your grandfather opened this shop, and I think it's only right that you should close it'.
Alan Sainsbury also pioneered fresh and frozen foods, and increased Sainsbury's own label range. He introduced oven-ready frozen chickens and the simple but powerful slogan "Good Food Costs Less at Sainsbury's" in 1959. Sainsbury's also released its first public relations video in 1964.
He retired as chairman in 1967 to be replaced by his brother Robert, and became Life President. On Sir Robert's retirement in 1969, at which point his son John Davan Sainsbury became chairman, Sir Robert was appointed Joint Life President of the retailer.
By this time Sainsbury's boasted 244 UK grocery stores (162 self-service shops and 82 counter service stores). The average size of new supermarkets was . The range of products increased from 350 to 4,000 (including 1,500 own brand products).
In 1969 sales reached £166m and profit before tax was £4.3m. The Company also boasted the highest sales per square foot in the food retailing industry and the market share of the UK supermarket business was 2.5%, turning Sainsbury's into a medium-sized, regional business in London and the South-East.
When the company listed on to the London Stock Exchange on 12 July 1973, as J Sainsbury plc, which was at the time the largest flotation ever, his family at the time retained control with an 85% stake. Alan Sainsbury split his 18% stake in the business between his sons John Davan Sainsbury, Simon Sainsbury and Tim Sainsbury, and so they held 6% each. Meanwhile, his brother
Sir Robert Sainsbury gave his entire 18% stake to his only son
David Sainsbury
David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, , raeng.org.uk. Accessed 8 September 2022. (24 October 1940) is a British politician, businessman and philanthropist. From 1992 to 1997, he served as chairman of Sainsbury's, the supermarket c ...
. It is believed that Sir Robert Sainsbury gave David Sainsbury his entire shareholding (rather than split it between David and his three daughters) so that David would have more votes at the table, considering John Davan Sainsbury, who became chairman in 1969 on Sir Robert Sainsbury's retirement, had a forceful, autocratic style of leadership, whereas David was always more cautious (and always seemed less interested in the family business than John Davan (David having only joined Sainsbury's personnel department as he did not get the grades to become a scientist)).
Alan and Robert's sons
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
both chaired the family firm and were later awarded
life peerage
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...
s.
Political career
Alan Sainsbury also stood as a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
parliamentary candidate at
Sudbury in the
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
,
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
and
1935 general elections, before joining the
Labour Party in 1945. In 1981, he was one of 100 prominent supporters of the "Gang of Four" who broke away from Labour to form the
SDP.
References
Sources
Alan Sainsbury, Lord Sainsbury of Drury Lane Sainsburyarchive.org.uk. Accessed 7 September 2022.
External Links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sainsbury, Alan
1902 births
1998 deaths
English people of Dutch-Jewish descent
British business executives
Life peers
Alan
Labour Party (UK) life peers
Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates
Social Democratic Party (UK) life peers
Jewish British politicians
20th-century British businesspeople
Life peers created by Elizabeth II