Sir Robert James Sainsbury
(24 October 19062 April 2000), was the son of
John Benjamin Sainsbury (the eldest son of
John James Sainsbury
John James Sainsbury (12 June 1844 – 3 January 1928) was an English grocer and founder of what is now called the Sainsbury's supermarket chain.
Early and private life
John James Sainsbury was born on 12 June 1844 at 5 Oakley Street, Lambe ...
, the founder of
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 wa ...
supermarkets) and along with his wife Lisa began the collection of modern and
tribal art
Tribal art is the visual arts and material culture of indigenous peoples. Also known as non-Western art or ethnographic art, or, controversially, primitive art, Dutton, Denis, Tribal Art'. In Michael Kelly (editor), ''Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. ...
housed at the
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
The Sainsbury Centre is an art gallery and museum located on the campus of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. The building, which contains a collection of world art, was one of the first major public buildings to be designed by ...
in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
.
Early life
Robert Sainsbury was 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 ...
and
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...
, before qualifying as an accountant.
Business career
In 1930, he joined the family grocery business founded by his grandfather, and became joint president almost 40 years later.
Robert Sainsbury was an advocate of better conditions for the retail chain's employees. Pensions and sickness benefits for all staff came in 1935; overtime payments were introduced in 1941; and, from 1962, the five-day week was standard.
Eight years after he joined the family firm, his father, John Benjamin Sainsbury, retired due to ill-health, and Robert Sainsbury and his elder brother
Alan Sainsbury
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.
Early and private life
Sainsbury was the son of Mabel Miriam ( Van den Bergh) a ...
became joint general managers. While Alan Sainsbury took charge of trading matters, Robert Sainsbury specialised in administration, finance and personnel. It was a happy partnership, lasting more than 30 years.
The
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
broke out a year after Robert Sainsbury's promotion, and there were rationed supplies at the 250 Sainsbury's shops.
Robert Sainsbury was a strong supporter of the
Beveridge Report
The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' (Command paper, Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was draft ...
, which cradled the welfare state into being. By the end of the war, Robert Sainsbury had cut the long hours which under-18s had necessarily put in - with men conscripted and women on war work.
The 1950s brought self-service supermarkets. Over the period of his joint general management, deputy chairpersonship and chairpersonship (he became deputy chairperson when his father died in 1956, and succeeded his brother as chairperson in 1967), the company's turnover increased from £45m to £166m, and the number of employees rose fourfold.
By the time he retired as chairperson in 1969, Robert Sainsbury had been a principal architect of the supergrocer's fortunes, which ensured its continuing success through to the beginning of the 1990s.
Charitable works
Sainsbury was as an art collector and benefactor who gave his collection to the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
. He was granted a knighthood in 1967 for services to the arts.
In 1973, Robert Sainsbury made a gift to the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
of several hundred paintings, drawings and sculptures from around the world, which he had bought over the decades. Designed by the architect
Norman Foster
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Nor ...
, and with an endowment of £3m from Sainsbury's son
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 ...
, the
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
The Sainsbury Centre is an art gallery and museum located on the campus of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. The building, which contains a collection of world art, was one of the first major public buildings to be designed by ...
, built to house the works, opened in spring 1978.
Marriage and family
In 1937, Sainsbury married Lisa van den Bergh (3 March 1912 – 6 February 2014), daughter of Professor Simon van den Bergh and Sonia Pokrojski.
Telegraph: Lady Sainsbury - obituary
/ref> They had four children:
* Elizabeth (19 July 1938 – 14 August 1977)
* David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville
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 ...
(24 October 1940)
* Celia (b. 1945)
* Annabel (b. 1948), married Peter Kanabus, with two children
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sainsbury, Robert James
1906 births
2000 deaths
English people of Dutch-Jewish descent
People educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College
Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
English businesspeople in retailing
English philanthropists
English art collectors
People associated with the University of East Anglia
Knights Bachelor
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
20th-century English businesspeople